ON

SALE
NOW!

DIGITAL O NL I NE P RI NT
SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND SAVE!
9001

www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/WHI/
9000
43 REINSTALL WINDOWS
PAGES OF WINDOWS
STEP-BY-STEP GUIDES
DO MORE WITH YOUR PC YOUR HANDY GUIDE TO PC RECOVERY

C T U
UT

SPEED UP
Record your WINDOWS
own po t
DELETE UNWANTED
U emoji and
Use d FILES FOR A
autocorrect
aut rrect SMOOTHER OS
Touch
uch up you
your
y
portrait hot s
port
2-IN-1
2 IN-11
LA
LAPT
APTOPS S
Hybri
ybrids
idss
on testt

W TECH TESTED & RATED

• R ZER BLADE STEALTH 13 • DRAYTEK VIGOR2926LAC
• A ER CONCEPTD 7 • MOTOROLA RAZR • MORE
;OLZV\YJLMVY[LJOI\`PUNHK]PJL
techradar.com
Welcome
Hello, and welcome to Windows image in GIMP, and avoiding
Help & Advice issue 173. all online snooping using
This month, we’ve got loads of the TOR browser.
tips on how to speed up using Elsewhere, you’ll find a
your Windows 10 PC. Starting on group-test of 2-in-1 laptops,
p48, you’ll find many tips and and reviews of a svelte
tricks, from those that require ultrabook, mobile
you to open your PC case and workstation, a 4G
fiddle around inside, to those router for business,
that only mean updating a few and the long-
device drivers. awaited reprise
There’s more speed on offer in of the 2004
the Explore section, where we Motorola Razr.
show you how to use predictive Whatever you
text input shortcuts to speed up do with your
your typing. We also have advice PC this month,
on recording your own podcast have fun
with Audacity, creating an HDR doing it.

Ian Evenden Editor

www.facebook.com/windowsmag
NEXT ISSUE
ON SALE
24 April
SUBSCRIBE TO THE 2020

MAG TODAY AND SAVE

– TURN TO PAGE 20!
We pride ourselves on being the only magazine on the shelves to show you
exactly how to get the very best from the Windows operating system, whether
you’re using Windows 10 or Windows 8.1. Also, don’t forget to take a look at
how you can read the magazine on your laptop, smartphone or tablet.

Cover image credits : Microsoft, Unsplash

Don’t miss our NEXT ISSUE, when we will show you how to…
Discover the secrets of the Control Panel Customise your PC Make your
mouse and keyboard easier to use Back up your hard drive with File History
Sign up for our newsletter at www.windowsmag.co.uk
FEATURES
11 The best free software
From web browsing to video editing,
great software is available for nothing

48 Speed up your PC
A compendium of tips and tricks for
making your Windows 10 PC go fasterr

72 2-in-1 laptop group test

Three of the latest hybrids go head-to-
head. Which will emerge the victor?

REGULARS
6 Discover Improving your memory,
a

38 Back issues Missed an issue? Doon’t

miss out – order now while stocks last!

66 Digital issues Get the world’s bbest

Windows mag on your phone or table
et

90 Next month Find out what’s

coming up in the May 2020 issue
EXPLORE
The best PC tutorials
<ʝʦɠ ʔʦLȫɏ ,ʋɚ (ɃʑQȫʑɚ Vʋ\ɡ
“If you’re looking for better ways to use your home
computer, then this is the place to start. We’ll show
you all the tips and tricks the experts use and more!”

24 Got something to say? Record

SUPPORT
62 Get answers to your
technical questions with
help from our PC experts
your own podcast with Audacity
27 Improve portrait photos
30 Learn how to use the emoji
keyboard for smiley-filled writing
32 Speed up typing with
predictive text input 39 Use a Microsoft account
35 HDR images in GIMP 42 Master notification settings

4 | | April 2020
 SUBSCRIPTION
BUNDLE OFFER
Buy print and digital together
– get an STM Drifter bag gift!
Find out more on page 20

UPGRADE
71 Our expert reviews
78 Razer Blade Stealth 13
From adding more RAM to keeping 80 Acer ConceptD 7
drivers up to date, get extra speed 82 DrayTek Vigor2926Lac router
out of your PC with these tips 84 Motorola Razr

48 88 Best free antivirus software

HYBRIDS
s n…

New technology means the 2-in-1 is a

viable force, but which of our three test www.twitter.com/windowsmag
subjects wil lcome out on top? www.facebook.com/windowsmag

April 2020 | | 5
 NEW THINGS TO DO AMAZING WEBSITES FASCINATING FACTS

6 | | April 2020

7ȱ ɏ ʑ Q ɍ Rɑɑ ʃ ȱ ɏ VWʋ Uɢ
Is Windows 10 about to
get a whole new look?
Microsoft drops one of Windows’ most iconic
features – could this lead to a much bigger overhaul?
P
repare to wave goodbye to
Windows 10’s Live Tiles. The
animated icons, showing off
the current weather and
flashing up the latest news
when you click the Start button, have
been an iconic Windows feature for many
years. They actually started as a part of
Windows Phone 7 and were core to
Windows 8 which, in its early days, didn’t
have a Start menu at all – just a big,
brash page full of
Live Tiles, meant to “Prepare to wave
be perfectly suited
to touch screen
goodbye to Windows
devices as well as 10’s animated Live Tiles”
traditional PCs.
Microsoft has since moved its focus
away from the phone and reconsidered
its design choices somewhat. The
company hasn’t updated its Live Tiles in
recent editions, and some have even
stopped working altogether; click the
Start button on your Windows 10 PC
and look, for instance, at whether the
Weather icon is actually showing you
something relevant. Microsoft insiders
TICKLED PINK
If you want your new laptop to get noticed,
look no further: the MSI Prestige 14 is about
as pink as it gets. It may be saccharine-
sweet, but it’s no slouch in the performance
department, with a 10th-generation Intel i7
processor inside as well as a slimline and
powerful graphics card. Naturally, that sort
of muscle means it won’t be cheap (we’d
expect the base model to start around
£1,000) but, short of a spray-paint session,
it’s the only way to go this pink.
MAXIMUM COMFORT Open the lid, and the back
props itself up to make typing more pleasurable.
Are Live Tiles for the chop?
are now suggesting that the ‘live’ aspect
will be dropped altogether around the
beginning of next year, replacing those
spots now reserved for Live Tiles with
static icons.
But it may be more than just that.
Looking at Windows 10 X, the Windows
version being developed for the next
generation of touchscreen devices,
reveals a radically different and far more
simplified Start menu, once which may
be a sign of things
to come. Microsoft
has already been
testing new icons
for those trialling
future versions of
Windows 10, so an updated look is
clearly on the cards. We would not
be the least bit surprised to see a
completely revised Start menu landing
sooner rather than later – though
Microsoft may choose to employ an
iterative redesign in order to ensure
that users don’t feel alienated or
confused when a big feature of
Windows changes overnight.
BRIGHT SPARK The Prestige 14’s screen is
delightfully bright and rich in contrast.
SLIM AND SLEEK It’s ultra thin, ultra light, and
carries far cleaner lines than many competitors.
April 2020 |
Discover
The Knowledge…
Flywheel
Is this an exercise bike?
It is an exercise bike. A smart one, capable
of linking you to group riding sessions,
and interactive training. Or, at least, it was.
There must be a good reason you’re
talking about an exercise bike.
Don’t worry, there is: following a losing
patent dispute with rival smart bike
manufacturer Peloton, in which it was
forced to admit copying the company’s
sensor-based training and competitive
leaderboard system, Flywheel opted to
completely shut down its home bike
operation, effectively cutting off training
for all users who couldn’t make it to a
gym. A fully functional smart device
turned, in an instant, into a dumb one.
That’s pretty bad.
It’s not even the end of it. Users didn’t just
wake up one day to find their bike a brick
– they woke up to an email not from
Flywheel but from Peloton in their inbox,
imploring them to trade in their
equipment for a Peloton bike as a
replacement. Unless they picked up their
(expensive) Flywheel bike on finance, that
is – those cyclists were left high and dry.
Thank goodness this doesn’t affect me.
That’s not really the message here:
whether you have an exercise bike or not,
the fact is that services, software licenses,
device updates and the like are nebulous.
If a company decides (or is forced to
decide) that it is no longer going to
provide something, that’s it. There’s
nothing you can do. If one day you’ve paid
hundreds for an expensive device, and the
next day that device no longer works,
you’re out of pocket.
What can I do about it?
The Flywheel case is, thankfully, a rather
rare example. But it’s important to be
aware that in the modern world nothing is
forever – at some point, you’ll have to
upgrade, switch, or take a different path.
| 7
(Ƀ ʑ ʢ\ʝȸ ɏ›ɡ Wɪ ɸ ʘʖQ Xɢ
Qɒ ɪEʝX
The chain letter problem
It’s a tale as old as time: hoax email leads to
riots on the streets. Isn’t it time we wised up?
Just as the (false) promise of saucy
pictures of tennis legend Anna
Kournikova once led hundreds of
thousands of computers to be infected
with a nasty virus, the threat of a nasty
real-world virus has led to a rather
infectious email. In the midst of the
recent Coronavirus outbreak, many
Ukrainian citizens received an email
purporting to be from the country’s
ministry of health, announcing several
cases of infection within the country. The
email did not come
from the ministry of
health (it did not
even originate from
within Ukraine) but it
did lead to violent
protests as Chinese
evacuees were
brought into
the country.
Email is not the
only source of
misinformation. Facebook, Twitter,
TikTok, YouTube et al have all been used
to spread false news about the outbreak,
either emitting from poor sources or
backed up by no sources at all. That false,
sensational information then becomes
the source: both The Sun and The
Express, for example, picked up on an
image which purported to be a satellite
image showing mass cremations in
China. This was neither a satellite image
nor evidence of burning – it was a
weather map.
Realistically this is not in the least
surprising; where you might once have
received a letter through the post urging
you to send it on to ten others lest your
little finger fall off, you now get a
Facebook status saying the same, or a
Tweet urging you to divulge ten highly
personal facts about you – with the
incentive the you may get to learn the
same from others.
Hoaxes presented as
fact have become as
normal as pictures of
cute cats, and they’re
shared just as widely.
The press doesn’t
tend to pick up on
the content of chain
letters, but they’ll
print things which
make for good
headlines, which leaves us either
believing everything or trusting nothing.
Just as you’re clever enough to
disregard that obvious chain email,
you’re clever enough to look at a
sensational headline and question it.
There are places you can go to find out
if something is true or not; Full Fact
(www.fullfact.org) is a UK fact-checking
charity and a great place to start.
Download this…
Brave
www.brave.com
If you feel like a change, Brave could be
the browser for you: it blocks dangerous
ads and gives you the option to earn
credits for viewing privacy respecting
ones; it blocks trackers that follow you
around the web; it offers a built-in privacy
mode that routes all your traffic through
the TOR network (see p34 for more on
this), which means even your location is
covered up. If that weren’t enough, it’s
fully compatible with Chrome extensions
which should make the transition
between the two quick and easy.
New for the latest version is integration
with www.archive.org’s Wayback Machine,
which stores snapshots of websites as
they appear over time. If you follow a link
to a dead website, Brave won’t just show
you an error – it will dip into the archive
and bring you the latest stored copy. With
web pages typically lasting between
40-100 days, that’s a great feature.
FLY UNDER THE RADAR A TOR window will
mean you shouldn’t be able to be traced
Follow us on…
www.twitter.com/windowsmag

7+(6(&ǖǕ'ȷƹ ƾ,=
ɏVWʋUWɡQ ʝɦ
3ʑ Q ɡD ɢʃȱ ɏȾHDʏ ɨ\ʝʦ ɠʤʖ
www.facebook.com/windowsmag

Which of these

1 How much RAM

did the Apollo 3 How much faster is
an average processor 5 manufacturers
does not have a PC
11 guidance from today?
computer have? A 100 times on board?
A IBM/Lenovo
NEXT ISSSUE ON SALE
B 1,000 times
A 2 kilobytes
B 20 kilobytes C 100,000 times B Alienware
C HP
Frid
d y
C 2 megabytes
How many laptop
How fast did 4 PCs are aboard
6 How fast is the

2 its main
processor run?
the International
Space Station?
internet connection
to the ISS?
A Around 10 A 1 Mb/s
A 20 MHz B 10 Mb/s
B 2.3 MHz B Around 100
C Around 1,000 C 100 Mb/s
C 2 MHz
Answers 1A 2C 3C 4B 5B 6B April

8 | | April 2020
 Discover
Facts & figures

Here we reveal some mostly useless

yet highly fascinating numerical facts... Windows devices get security updates from
Microsoft every month.

52%
Of people surveyed by
Ipsos Mori think about

9 MILLION avoiding having

money stolen ‘a lot’
when they go online.

123456
Is still the most-used password in Britain, according to a
survey by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

The number of PCs in the Necurs botnet,

taken down this month by Microsoft with
partners across 35 countries. One infected
PC on the network was observed to send
over 65,000 spam emails a day.

300 MILLION Facebook users could have had

their user IDs, phone numbers
and names exposed after a
database breach orchestrated by
cybercriminals in Vietnam.

50
Of respondents to a PwC survey reported experiencing economic
crime in the past two years, above the global average.

April 2020 | | 9
 Incoming
The hottest new hardware across the universe

PANOSETI
£Astronomical setiathome.berkeley.edu
The search for extraterrestrial life has often preoccupied the staff of this
magazine, positioned as we are in an office next to the strange, slender,
glowing beings that work on our sister title MacFormat.
It was with a heavy heart, therefore, that we saw the distributed virtual
supercomputer that is the SETI@home project, trawling through telescope
data for signs of intelligence using your leftover CPU cycles, go into
‘hibernation’ at the end of March. The reason was that “we’re at the point of
diminishing returns; we’ve analysed all the data we need for now”. Which is
a shame, because we hoped it meant they’d found something.
Elsewhere, though, we were overjoyed to see the search for little green
men continues, with a new project from University of California San Diego,
PANOSETI, that will use hundreds of new radio telescopes to painstakingly
scan the entire visible sky for alien signals. Unfortunately, “we have no idea
on the likelihood of detection,” says UC San Diego physicist Shelley Wright.
All images used with permission

10 | | April 2020

FREE APPS
10
YOU CAN’T
LIVE WITHOUT
Everybody – and we mean everybody – needs this
collection of free tools and apps, curated by Nick Peers
henever we reinstall
W
Windows, there’s
always a collection
of apps that we
install as a matter of
urgency. These
programs are essential for a variety
of reasons, and we’d like to share
them with you in case any have
slipped through the gaps in your PC
knowledge.
The ten applications we’ve
chosen for this roundup are all free
to install and use – some may have
additional features locked behind a
one-time purchase, but their core
functionality (and the sole reason
they’re in this list) is completely
free to use.
7XUQWKHSDJHDQG\RX·OOÀQGRXU
recommendations for such diverse
activities as browsing the web,
HGLWLQJRIÀFHEDVHGÀOHVHGLWLQJ
Windows
Free apps you can’t live witho
video and listening to music. There
are also tools for backing up,
increasing your PC’s security, editing
WH[W ÀOHV DQG LPSURYLQJ \RXU
photos. Throw in the ultimate media
player and free data recovery tool
and your list is complete.
Or is it? For every single
application we suggest, we’ve
thrown in a bonus program. In
some cases, these are simple
alternatives to our main
recommendation, to give you
more choice in case our main
VXJJHVWLRQGRHVQ·WÁRDW\RXUERDW
But in others, they’re companion
apps that you should install
alongside your main application
for additional functionality.
Ready to discover the apps
you’ve been missing all your
(computing) life? Turn the page
to get started.
April 2020 | | 11
Browse the web
MOZILLA FIREFOX: choose this open-source
web browser for speed and security
hese days, Google

T
Chrome reigns supreme
as the desktop browser
used by most, so why do
we prefer to use Firefox?
The pure and simple
reason is choice: Mozilla Firefox is one of
the few browsers left that uses its own
browser engine (Gecko) to render web
pages. Other rivals – Opera, Vivaldi and
even Microsoft Edge – all make use of
Google’s Chromium engine. Following a
single standard is all well and good, but
lack of competition inhibits innovation,
which is why we say stick your colours
to the Mozilla mast.
It helps, of course, that Firefox is a
capable browser in its own right – its
rapid-release cycle means it’s constantly
Strike one for the little guy by switching your
evolving (although if it changes too browser to the fast, powerful and secure Firefox.
rapidly for your tastes, install Firefox ESR
– Extended Support Release – instead
from www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/ transparent, and it deliberately limits down and click Settings under Network
enterprise/). Pair it with a Firefox the amount of data it collects while Settings. Tick Enable DNS over HTTPS
account and you can sync your pioneering tools and features to and leave the default Cloudflare
bookmarks, history, open tabs and other increase your privacy – recent releases provider selected before clicking OK.
settings between computers and even have ramped up built-in protection
Firefox on your mobile. against trackers, cookies, fingerprinters ALSO CONSIDER: If Firefox doesn’t float
In 2018, Firefox relaunched itself and so-called cryptominers while giving your boat, then now’s a good time to
as Firefox Quantum, and with the new you greater control over what give Microsoft’s Edge another look – it’s
name came a speed boost: performance permissions you grant to websites. been completely rewritten using the
is now on a par with Chrome, removing We also recommend enabling DNS Chromium browser engine. Download
another barrier to switching. over HTTPS – another Firefox-pioneered your copy from www.microsoft.com/
feature. This increases browsing security edge now – remember, you can run
More security and privacy by encrypting the resolution of web multiple browsers side-by-side, so why
Firefox’s open-source nature means all addresses. The feature is hidden away not use it as your fallback for those few
development and changes are – open Options > General, then scroll websites not optimised for Firefox?

Five essential browser add-ons

Whichever web browser you choose, consider the following three
add-ons essential. First, Bitwarden (www.bitwarden.com) is our
go-to password manager, ensuring all your online accounts are
protected by strong, unguessable passwords – the browser
DGGRQPDNHVLWHDV\WRDXWRÀOOORJLQVDQGIRUPV1H[WÀOWHURXW
potentially dangerous ads, trackers and malware sites with the
help of uBlock Origin (https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock) – don’t
forget to whitelist trusted websites. HTTPS Everywhere (www.eff.
org/https-everywhere) ensures you always get a secure
connection to any website that supports it and doesn’t
automatically redirect you.
Firefox users should check out two further add-ons courtesy of
0R]LOODÀUVW)DFHERRN&RQWDLQHUKWWSVDGGRQVPR]LOODRUJ
blocks all Facebook trackers on third-party websites to prevent it
from spying on your online activity. And secondly, Facebook
Multi-Account Containers lets you create isolated ‘identities’
within Firefox. Each identity is se parate from the others, which
makes it possible to log into a website with two or more different
Bitwarden makes it easy to manage online
DFFRXQWVZLWKRXWKDYLQJWRORJRXWRIWKHRWKHUVÀUVW,W·VWKH passwords in your web browser.
perfect way to keep personal and work browsing separate.

12 | | April 2020
 Windows 10
Free apps you can’t live without

Edit images like a pro

PAINT.NET: Get advanced image-editing
tools for zero cost thanks to this free app
veryone needs to edit menu also provides numerous ways Plugins we recommend include

E
images at some point in of improving an image’s lighting Shadow/Highlight Recovery and
their lives, and while – focus on the Curves and Levels Sharpen+ (an improved version of the
Windows ships with the tools for professional-level editing. default tool) for correcting photos.
Photos tool, it’s more of You can also apply colour filters to Paint.NET supports a wide variety
an organiser than an your image from here – including of file types, but any missing ones
editor. At the other end of the scale are Sepia and Posterize. – such as Photoshop’s native PSD
expensive tools such as Photoshop that format (which supports layers) – can
come with complexity on top of the Free powerups be added via the plug-in browser.
asking price. For most people, though, Can’t find the tool or effect you’re
something in the middle is what’s looking for? Paint.NET supports ALSO CONSIDER: Need to rename,
required, and Paint.NET is that tool. plugins, allowing you to expand the convert or edit multiple files? Save time
It’s relatively straightforward to use program’s functionality further. The by performing batch operations on
– load an image, and you’ll find all the step-by-step guide reveals how to them using the brilliant Faststone Photo
basic tools you need to crop, rotate, incorporate them into the program. Resizer (www.faststone.org).
resize it and so on. There is a variety of
selection tools for working on part of
the image – including the magic wand
and magnetic lasso for irregular objects.
r by s ing you
u
You’ll also find various correction tools, d se
e fox.v
v
from brushes and erasers to a clone
stamp tool for eradicating dust,
scratches and other unwanted elements
from scanned vintage photos.
The Effects tab provides access to a
variety of different filters for further
editing – these range from special
effects like applying art-like effects
(such as oil painting or pencil sketch)
to performing further corrections using
the Blur and Photo categories.
Like Photoshop, Paint.NET supports
layers – this allows you to apply non-
destructive effects to your image
by duplicating the original image
and performing your edits to the
second layer. The Adjustments Paint.NET is packed with tools to help you edit and transform your photos.

$GGH[WUDIXQFWLRQDOLW\WR3DLQW1(7

1 Install browser 2 Locate new plugins 3 Install new plugin

Visit https://forums.getpaint.net
and navigate to ‘Plugins – Publishing
21/<· 2SHQ WKH SLQQHG ¶7KH 3OXJLQ
Browser’ thread and download
PluginBrowser-Installer.zip to your
GRZQORDGV IROGHU &ORVH 3DLQW1(7
then extract and run PluginBrowser-
Installer.exe.
After installation, open Paint.
1(7 DQG FKRRVH ¶(IIHFWV ! 3OXJLQ
Browser’ to view currently installed
SOXJLQV <RX·OO DOVR VHH D NH\ZRUG VHDUFK
tool: this can be used to search the
plug-in index online to track down
more plugins – just click a hyperlink to
be taken to the relevant page.
Plugins are downloaded as
]LSÀOHVLIQRLQVWDOOHULVSURYLGHG
VLPSO\H[WUDFWWKHGOOÀOHLQVLGHWKH
zip archive to the relevant subfolder
LQVLGH&?3URJUDP)LOHV?3DLQW1(7
– this is typically Effects or FileTypes
(note that you’ll need administrator
access to do so).

April 2020 | | 13
Play any media on your PC
VLC MEDIA PLAYER: watch any video
– including DVDs – on your PC for free
ideo comes in all shapes connected to your PC, for example. Programme menu and you’ll have a list

V
and sizes these days, Select Media > Capture Device, then of all available channels on that mux.
and VLC Media Player choose TV – digital under Capture For more advanced uses, check out the
(www.videolan.org/vlc) mode, select DVB-T for Delivery system step-by-step guide.
is the player that can and enter the frequency of the mux
handle it all, whether (multiplex) containing your target TV ALSO CONSIDER: If you’re looking for
you’re watching digital video files, channel in the appropriate box, using something to turn your PC into an
streaming over the internet or wanting https://ukfree.tv/maps/freeview as a entertainment centre, complete with
to enjoy a good old-fashioned DVD guide and converting MHz to KHz by media management tools (plus support
through your PC. The program has been multiplying it by 1,000. for both CD and DVD playback), then
designed to handle just about any Click Play, and after a short pause you install Kodi (www.kodi.tv). It’s perfect for
format you can throw at it – which should hear a radio channel or see a TV large screen displays and can play pretty
makes it the only video player you need. channel. Open the Playback > much anything VLC can.
You can open a wide variety of files
directly from the Media menu – choose
Disc and you’ll see options for both DVD
and Blu-ray. Note, however, that
encrypted Blu-rays aren’t supported (we
recommend LEAWO Blu-ray Player for
watching Blu-rays on your PC – see
www.leawo.org/blu-ray-player/). No
such problem with DVDs though – you
can browse menus and point and click.
One tip: choose ‘Video > Deinterlace >
Automatic’ to improve the quality of
DVDs (particularly older TV shows).
Once you’ve opened your media, use
the controls beneath the main display to
control playback – an extended button
reveals audio and video effects, plus a
handy Synchronization tab for
correcting lip-sync problems caused by
mismatched audio and video streams.

Watch TV on VLC
There are lots of advanced uses for VLC
too – you can link to a USB TV tuner Turn your digital cache of photos into a striking photo book to view or share with others.

$GYDQFHG9/&WLSVDQGWULFNV

1 Chromecast 2 Watch with subtitles 3 Build a TV playlist

2SHQ WKH 3OD\EDFN ! 5HQGHUHU
menu, and if your Chromecast device
hasn’t already been detected (in which
case simply select it), click Scan to
search for it on your local network.
7KHQ VWDUW SOD\EDFN LQ 9/& ² LWV VFUHHQ
will remain blank, and the video will
appear through Chromecast.
If you’re watching a DVD, or
\RXU YLGHR ÀOH KDV HPEHGGHG VXEWLWOHV
VZLWFK WKHP RQ YLD WKH 6XEWLWOH ! 6XE
7UDFN PHQX <RX FDQ DOVR GRZQORDG
VXEWLWOHV GLUHFWO\ LQWR 9/& YLD WKH 9LHZ
! 9/VXE PHQX ² MXVW HQWHU \RXU VHDUFK
terms if needed, then click ‘Download
selection’ next to a match.
Selecting TV channels by
frequency isn’t elegant: stop playback
and return to the playlist where you can
FRQÀJXUHHDFKPX[DVLWVRZQSOD\OLVW
HQWU\2QFHGRQHFKRRVH0HGLD!6DYH
Playlist to File and to save your stored
channels as a playlist, easily accessible
YLDWKH0HGLD!2SHQ)LOHRSWLRQ

14 | | April 2020

Foolproof backups
MACRIUM REFLECT FREE: Take a failsafe backup
of your entire hard drive for added peace of mind
ut the right backup plan
P
in place, and you need
never worry about
accidental data loss,
system crashes or
botched Windows
Updates again. Windows’ own File
History provides limited protection
for key folders and files, but the only
foolproof backup is a drive image
– an exact copy of an entire hard
drive or partition.
The best tool for the job is Macrium
Reflect Free (www.macrium.com/
reflectfree.aspx). Select the drive(s) or
partition(s) to back up – choose Create
an image of the partition(s) required to
backup and restore Windows to protect
your system – and then once you’ve
“We recommend alternating your
backup between two destinations”
Get extra security
MALWAREBYTES ANTI-MALWARE: add
another layer of protection to your PC
hese days, even the
T
built-in protection
offered by Windows
is pretty robust, but
you can never be too
safe. Whether you rely
on Windows Security or go for more
fully featured protection from the
likes of Bitdefender, Avast! or Norton,
you need Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
(www.malwarebytes.com). The free
version of the program allows you to
Free apps you can’t live without
chosen your backup destination, create
a schedule that mixes full and
differential backups (the Differential
Backup Set is a good template if you’re
pushed for time). Make sure you click
Advanced Options to tick Verify image
under Auto Verify Image and you’re
good to go.
Good backup practice
We recommend (as with all backups)
alternating your backup between two
different destinations – say a USB drive
attached to your PC and a network drive
set up in another room. Also be sure to
create the rescue media when prompted
– in the event of a crash, booting from
this makes it easy to roll back to your
latest backup and restore your PC.
periodically scan your PC for nasty
intruders missed by your main
package – MBAM excels in detecting
potentially unwanted programs that
fall into the grey area between safe,
but annoying and outright dangerous.
It’s simple to install and run – just
get in the habit of launching it weekly
to scan for potential threats. The
Premium version (£29.99 a year) offers
realtime protection to block threats
before the et on to our PC – ou
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
is particularly adept at
keeping potentially unwanted
programs off your computer.
Windows 10
Set up a schedule that mixes full and differential
backups for maximum protection.
ALSO CONSIDER: At least one backup
should be stored remotely, and the
cloud is the obvious destination. But
do you trust your cloud provider
with your data? Install Duplicati
(www.duplicati.com) and you can
create backups to store with any
cloud provider that come with an
extra layer of encryption to make
them practically impregnable, even if
your online account is compromised.
can run this alongside your existing
security tool.
Examine results closely
MBAM places suspicious items in
quarantine – you can review them after
a scan, or place them in quarantine and
review later via Detection History. You’ll
see many are listed as ‘PUP.Optional’
– click the name to view a description of
the threat online. You may even decide
Malwarebytes is being overzealous, and
you can restore them from here.
ALSO CONSIDER: If you’re relying on
the built-in Windows Firewall for
protection, note it’s only configured to
monitor incoming traffic. Add protection
for outbound traffic too by installing
Windows Firewall Control (www.binisoft.
org/wfc.php). This allows you to monitor
– and block if necessary – all attempts to
access the internet from programs and
processes installed on your PC.
April 2018 | | 15
Get a free office suite
LIBREOFFICE: make the switch from a Microsoft
2I¾FH VXEVFULSWLRQ WR ]HUR FRVW RU DGV
one are the days when Office. You can open and save in time to read the documentation that

G
the only alternatives to Office-compatible formats – to make comes with each one – extensions take
Microsoft Office cost these the default, go to Tools > Options up residence in lots of different places.
money, with no easy way > Load/Save > General, and make your
to move files between choice from the Always save as menu. ALSO CONSIDER: If LibreOffice’s user
platforms. Free office If you can’t find the tool you’re interface is too primitive for you, and
suites are ten-a-penny now, but many looking for in LibreOffice itself (there’s you only need to replace Word, Excel
are limited to just the core three apps an extensive help menu and online user and PowerPoint, take a look at
– word processor, spreadsheet and guides if you do get lost), then see if an Softmaker FreeOffice (www.freeoffice.
presentations tool – and are ad- extension has been written to plug the com). It offers the familiar ribbon-like
supported. None of these restrictions functionality gap – the step-by-step interface (or classic menus should you
apply to LibreOffice (www.libreoffice. guide reveals how to track down, want them) and is compatible with
org), however. download and install them. Take the Office formats too.
Not only is LibreOffice ad-free, it offers
replacements for Access (Base) and Visio
(Draw) to provide database and
drawing/flowchart functionality in
addition to Writer, Calc and Impress,
plus bonus tools in the form of Math (a
formula editor) and Charts, a tool for
producing pie charts and the like.

Getting started
LibreOffice’s components can be
opened independently, or through a
centralised launcher. This provides
convenient access to each application as
well as recently opened documents.
Each application opens with the classic
interface familiar to anyone who used
Word 2003 or earlier – if you’d like to
switch to the new ribbon, choose View LibreOffice’s
> User Interface > Tabbed. The Tabbed launcher puts
the entire suite at
Compact option provides a cut-down your disposal
version on one line instead of two. – including recently
From here, LibreOffice works in a opened documents.
similar – not quite identical – way to

([SDQG/LEUH2IÀFH·VFDSDELOLWLHV

1 Find extensions 2 Review, download 3 Install and run

Browse to https://extensions.
OLEUHRIÀFHRUJ WR EURZVH WKURXJK WKH
nearly 400 available extensions via
the Extensions tab. Use the navigation
tools on the right to narrow the list
by supported application or type (such
as macro or dictionary). Click an entry to
visit its own page.
Review any requirements and
dependencies (some add-ons require
additional programs to be in place),
then scroll down to locate the
GRZQORDG OLQN DQG VDYH WKH ÀOH WR
your hard drive or – if offered the
opportunity – to open it directly
LQ /LEUH2IÀFH
If saved to your drive, open your
WDUJHW/LEUH2IÀFHDSSOLFDWLRQDQGSUHVV
[Ctrl] + [Alt] + [E] to open the Extension
0DQDJHU&OLFN$GGWRVHOHFWWKHÀOH7KH
extension should appear in the list. Click
&ORVH!5HVWDUW1RZ7KHH[WHQVLRQ
should now be accessible as a toolbar
or other element.

16 | | April 2020
 Windows 10
Free apps you can’t live without

The ultimate free

data recovery tool
DMDE: rescue all kinds of lost and deleted data from your drives
ometimes, despite your

S
best efforts, data loss
occurs. It may be as
simple as accidentally
deleting a file or as
major as a partition or
entire drive disappearing. Once upon a
time, recovery involved expensive fees
(and if your drive is physically damaged,
you may still need to employ the
services of specialists like Ontrack
– www.ontrack.com/uk/ – to see if
anything’s recoverable). Nowadays,
though, armed with the right tools you
can often get that data back at no cost.
One of the most powerful free tools is
DMDE, capable of all kinds of recovery
– even from drives rescued from broken
enclosures that have been formatted in
such a way as to make them impossible
to access when removed from their DMDE can recover deleted and lost data from missing partitions as well as regular volumes.
original housing. Download the GUI for
Windows version from https://dmde. simple data deletion) or physical (for default). Note, the free version limits you
com/download.html – it’s a portable missing drives). If you choose the latter, to recovering up to 4,000 files at a time;
tool (see box), so download it to any select your drive and click OK to have it purchase a licence (either $16 for a
drive except the one containing your scanned. If you’re lucky, the missing single-year licence, or $38 for lifetime)
lost data, then extract it to the same partition will show up; if not, click Full to remove this restriction.
drive. Open the folder and double-click Scan and follow the prompts to see if
dmde.exe to get started (if a DMDE can recreate it. ALSO CONSIDER: If you’re put off by
SmartScreen warning pops up, click To recover data from a detected drive, DMDE’s slightly daunting user interface,
More Info > Run anyway). click ‘Open Volume’ to browse its try Recuva (download the portable
contents. If the entire partition was version from www.ccleaner.com/recuva/
Recover your data missing, you can now start recovering features/portable-version) instead. It’s a
Step one of the process involves data from the drive by selecting the more user-friendly affair, but not as
selecting the drive on which your folder in the left-hand panel and powerful as DMDE. Our advice: try this
missing data resides – a handy hint pressing [Ctrl] + [U] to save the files to first, then switch to DMDE if Recuva isn’t
steers you towards either logical (for another drive (the DMDE directory by able to help.

Build a portable toolkit

Many of the apps we’ve covered in this feature are available After manually adding a portable app
as portable applications, allowing you to store them on a to the PortableApps launcher, assign it
86%ÁDVKGULYHDQGUXQWKHPIURPDQ\3&²RUVLPSO\XVH to the correct category.
them in the knowledge all your preferences are stored in
one convenient location easy to back up and restore after a
Windows reinstall. They include Firefox, FastStone Photo
5HVL]HU9/&/LEUH2IÀFH'0'(5HFXYD0XVLF%HH:LQ\O
2SHQVKRW(GLW3DG/LWHDQG1RWHSDG
The centrepiece of any portable toolkit has to be
PortableApps (www.portableapps.com), which gives you a
handy launcher tool for managing and running portable
DSSV$IWHULQVWDOODWLRQODXQFKWKLVDQGFKRRVH$SSV!*HW
0RUH$SSV!%\&DWHJRU\WRLQVWDOOGLUHFWIURPWKHH[WHQVLYH
PortableApps catalogue. But you can also add portable apps
manually too (look for a portable download on the
program’s own website – simply copy the program folder
LQWRWKH3RUWDEOH$SSVGLUHFWRU\DQGFKRRVH$SSV!5HIUHVK
App Icons to bring them into view under the ‘Other’
category. Then right-click the icon and choose Category to
move them to a more suitable category.

April 2020 | | 17
Edit videos for free
OPENSHOT: get a fully featured movie-making tool for no cost
fter retiring the excellent
A
Windows Movie Maker,
Microsoft didn’t
bother to develop a
replacement. We’ve
yet to see anything
truly replace it, but for those looking
to edit video in a professional manner
– complete with fades, wipes, special
effects and title sequences – OpenShot
(www.openshot.org) fits the bill.
Version 2.5 was recently released,
and should address many of the
performance issues in earlier versions,
allowing you to focus on pulling
together your raw materials – video,
plus additional images and audio files
– before compiling them into a
“For those looking to edit video with
fades, wipes, special effects and title
sequences, OpenShot fits the bill”
Upgrade your text editor
professionally edited movie using
OpenShot’s various tools.
Movies in just a few clicks
We covered the program in-depth back
in the February issue, but the program’s
simple drag-and-drop interface is as
intuitive as things get. Start with your
basic video tracks, then remember the
designer’s mantra of less is more.
Choose a simple title sequence, then
use the same style should you want to
add a credits sequence or create other
text-based effects for consistency. The
same is true with effects – both
transition between clips and special
effects performed on the footage itself.
When it comes to adding titles to your
Drag your clips on to the OpenShot timeline and
then work the program’s magic to turn them into a
polished movie.
movies, you’ll need to install one or
both of Blender and Inkscape – both
also free and open-source. These can
be portable versions and with the
release of OpenShot 2.5.0 you’re no
longer forced to work with an older
version of Blender.
ALSO CONSIDER: If you find OpenShot
too buggy or CPU-intensive – even
with the latest updates some PC
setups still struggle with it – try
Shotcut (www.shotcut.org) instead.
EDITPAD LITE: 0DNH HGLWLQJ WH[W DQG FRQ¾JXUDWLRQ
¾OHV HDV\ ZLWK WKLV 1RWHSDG UHSODFHPHQW
text editor does far more
A
than provide the means
to edit plain text files. It’s
often used to edit code,
from HTML web pages to
configuration files used
by programs to store preferences.
Notepad falls short on several fronts,
but those shortcomings are all fixed by
EditPad Lite (www.editpadlite.com).
First, it allows you to open multiple
text documents at once in a single,
multi-tabbed window. There’s a more
powerful search-and-replace tool with
support for regular expressions, and – a
game-changer – recently added support
for syntax highlighting when writing
code. All you need to do is select the
correct programming language, from
HTML to Python or C++, via the Options
> File Type menu, and you’ll see your
code coloured according to its
formatting to help ensure you enter
code correctly.
EditPad Lite now supports syntax highlighting
when editing code – a major new feature.
Work with clips
Another highlight are EditPad Lite’s
clipboard tools. Not only can you
append new text selections to what’s
currently on the clipboard, it’s also
possible to build up a catalogue of
frequently used text snippets for quick
and easy pasting into documents.
To use this, bring the Clip Collection
pane into focus by pressing Alt + F10.
Paste clips into here and you can then
simply right-click one and choose ‘Use
Clip’ whenever you want to paste it into
the document at the current cursor
point. Right-click and choose ‘Edit Clip’
to create different kinds of clips, such as
rectangular text blocks.
ALSO CONSIDER: if you need more
features, including built-in spellchecker,
macro recorder and Document Map
tool, then Notepad++ (https://notepad-
plus-plus.org/) might prove to be a
more tempting choice.
 Windows 10
Free apps you can’t live without

Boost your PC’s music player

MUSICBEE: probably the best music player
for your PC – and it’s completely free
ith Windows Media

W
Player slipping into
obscurity, those who
love to listen to music
on their PC should
install MusicBee
(https://getmusicbee.com/) instead.
Think of it as Windows Media Player on
steroids with everything you need to
build, organise and – of course – enjoy
your audio collection. It even boasts
native support for Groove Music.
The app is also geared towards
audiophiles with playback controls
designed to fine-tune the sounds
coming out of your speakers – including
a handy graphic equaliser (10- or
15-band) with smart auto-select option
to switch the settings depending on
what genre of music is currently playing.
MusicBee is almost infinitely customisable, but sometimes simple is best.

Get started
On first launch you’ll be prompted to
select the location of your music. You
can also opt to import tracks and
artwork from either WMP or iTunes.
Once done, click ‘Scan Now’. Your library
will appear in an iTunes-like view, with
list of artists down the side and the
currently selected artists output
(organised by album) in the main pane.
Alternative views are available – try
Music Explorer for one showing artist
bios, top tracks and other information.
Click the + button to create your own
custom views, then tweak it further by
clicking the ? button and choosing
‘Arrange Panels’ You’ll also see a ‘Select
Skin’ option for changing its colour
scheme, plus shortcuts to handy mini
and compact player views and a useful
Now Playing Assistant.
Take the time to explore all MusicBee’s
menus under its name – and focus on
Tools. Here you’ll find bonus features
like a tool for converting from one
format to another, plus tools to help fill
in missing tags and artwork for your
existing library. Connect your iPhone to
sync music, audiobooks and other
content between your phone and PC.
And if all that isn’t enough, you can
expand MusicBee’s capabilities further
using plugins – go to ‘Edit Preferences >
Plugins’ to both manage existing ones
and add new plugins (get these from
https://getmusicbee.com/
addons/s/?type=all&overview). Uoi can
add support for AirPlay speakers, turn
your phone into a remote control and
integrate Spotify into MusicBee.
ALSO CONSIDER: If you don’t need
CD-ripping capabilities and some
other advanced features, Winyl
(https://winyl-player.github.io/) offers
all the core music player features you
need: play, organise, tag and even
stream online radio.

7DJXQLGHQWLÀHGPHGLDLQ0XVLF%HH

1 Add Gracenote 2 Tag by album 3 Enter search terms

By default, MusicBee only Click ‘+’ at the top, then use Type the name of the artist
interrogates the MusicBrainz database the File pane on the left to navigate (Various if it’s a compilation) and the
for CD information – click ? and choose to an album folder containing your DOEXPQDPHLQWRWKHUHOHYDQWÀHOGV
¶(GLW3UHIHUHQFHV!7DJV·&OLFNWKH
hamburger (three lines) next to tags, then
WLFN¶*UDFHQRWH·IROORZHGE\8SGDWH!
$SSO\WRLPSURYH\RXUFKDQFHVRIÀQGLQJ
a match for your CD.
XQWDJJHGÀOHV3UHVV>&WUO@>$@WR
VHOHFWDOOWKHÀOHVLQWKHPLGGOHSDQH
then right-click and choose Auto-Tag
by Album to open the Album
Auto-Tagger window.
then click Find. Browse the results,
selecting the correct match. Verify
the track names match up, then click
¶$SSO\7DJV·WRWDJWKHÀOHVZLWKWKH
selected information.

April 2020 | | 19
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
FOR JUST £29.75
AND GET A FREE...

GI
WORTH

...STM DRIFTER
LAPTOP BACKPACK!
Protective suspended Internal power pocket D foam mesh back panel
tech cell safeguards and provides a place to store with air-flow channel
protects digital devices charging items for hot days
 Subscribe and receive
UK subscription offer

Enjoy a year of Windows Help &

Advice magazine for just £27.25 –
that’s only £4.19 per issue!
Receive every issue delivered
direct to your door
A thoughtful gift that keeps
delivering

Instant access any time, anywhere

Never miss an issue of Windows Help & Advice
Available on  iOS or A
Android

www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/wom/s
stm1
or call 0344 848
8 285
52
*Terms and conditions: This offer is only available for new UK subscribers. Gift is subject to availability. Please allow up to 60 days for the delivery of your gift. In the event of stocks
being exhausted we reserve the right to replace with items of similar value. Prices and savings quoted are compared to buying full-priced print issues. You will receive 13 issues in a
year. You can write to us or call us to cancel your subscription within 14 days of purchase. Payment is non-refundable after the 14 day cancellation period unless exceptional
FLUFXPVWDQFHVDSSO\8.FDOOVZLOOFRVWWKHVDPHDVRWKHUVWDQGDUGÀ[HGOLQHQXPEHUVVWDUWLQJRURUDUHLQFOXGHGDVSDUWRIDQ\LQFOXVLYHRUIUHHPLQXWHVDOORZDQFHVLIRIIHUHGE\
\RXUSKRQHWDULII)RUIXOOWHUPVDQGFRQGLWLRQVSOHDVHYLVLWZZZELWO\PDJWHUPVOffer ends: 24/04/2020
 £10 SUBSCRIBE OFFER
PLUS FREE DIGITAL MAGS!
SUBSCRIBE TO
WINDOWS HELP & ADVICE FOR

AND GET A SELECTION OF

DIGITAL TECH MAGS FOR FRE
EE!

AWESOME Pi PROJECTS APPLE AIRPODS PRO vs SONY WF-1000XM3

S

1 Enjoy 4K video on the Pi 2 Run Ubuntu 19.10

3 Boot secrets revealed 4 Build a thermal monitor

PLUS!
HOW TO
STREAM AU

THE BEST TV WEE’VE

DESIGN A P
HACK ON TH

The #1 open source mag

EV ER TESTED! OLED
Panasonic
SURELY

CAN’T GET ANY

BETTER THAN
THIS?
beats LG at
its own game
d! Replace
Windows 7 is deat a few REVIEWED
jus
it with Linux in guide
minutes with our

Technics’
Technics superb
CD-playing streamer

6 JBL’s barggain
wireless
earbuds

10OFBESTHE
HE
Ho
Affordable Martin
and shield our pr FLOORSTAND ERSS
ANDER
Mac backups Master the
th Logan speakers! T
ROUND-UP
The Linux Foundat on’s

Greg Kroah-Hartman
Protect you
ur syss made easy Podca ts ap Our ultim
mate
t
with securre ba produc s of Which offers
on being the Linux kernel
Become a photto prro
Mac iPhone iPad Watch iCloud iTunes Ph the decade the best
second in command top GIMP touc
uch-u up tips
ps musical bangg
GRAFANA MONITOR BUILDING MENUS for your buck?
Discover the best Create terminal based
way to monitor data checklists in ncurses WIRELESS SPEAKERS: SONOS
NO vvs THE REST

www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/wom/intt10
Offer available to EU, US and ROW subscribers
*Terms and conditions: This offer applies to all new subscribers. This offer entitles new subscribers to their first quarter of issues for £10, €10 or $10 dependent on location. After
these issues, standard subscription pricing will apply – please see online for details. Offer applies to print subscription only for iCreate, Linux Format, MacFormat, T3, What Hi-Fi?,
Windows Help & Advice. You will receive an email after your purchase with a downloadable link to your free digital magazines. Prices and savings quoted are compared to buying
full-priced print issues. You an call us to cancel your subscription within 14 days of purchase. Payment is non-refundable after the 14 day cancellation period unless exceptional
circumstances apply. For full terms and conditions please visit: www.bit.ly/magterms. Offer ends April 30th 2020.
 WINDOWS TIPS INTERNET ADVICE EXCITING NEW PROJECTS

Welcome )ʅɸɗ ʙLVʤʖQɒ

Every month in
Explore you’ll
discover some
great ways to do
more with your PC,
whether it’s mastering the
basics, or getting productive
with all kinds of apps.
This month, we’ll show you
how to record your own
podcast (p24); touch up
portrait shots in Luminar (p27);
use emoji in your writing, but
maybe not to the bank
manager (p30); speed up your
typing with predictive text
input (p32); use the same
Microsoft account across
multiple PCs (p39); update
Action Centre and notification
settings (p42); and prevent
online snooping using the TOR
browser (p44). Have fun!
Ian Evenden
Editor
24 Record your own podcast with
Audacity and a USB microphone
27 Use Luminar’s new tools to
improve portrait photos
30 Fun with the emoji keyboard
32 Type faster with predictive text
34 Create HDR images in free
image-editing program GIMP
39 Use the same Microsoft account
across all your Windows 10 devices
42 Stay on top of notifications, and
master Action Centre settings
44 Stop all online snooping using
the free TOR web browser
<ʝʦɠʔʦLȫɏ
&ʋUʢȲɏ0ʋUʂKɪɸɗVʋ\ɡ
“Fancy being a podcaster? All you
need is a nice microphone, your
PC and an interesting idea”
7ʦʢɚ Wɛ SDȰɏ 
WɛʓʖQɍʝXɢPʝȾɏ

Our promise to you…

Get more from Windows, software and all your favourite sites

Packed with informative tutorials
Every issue, we guarantee to pack the
magazine with great tutorials teaching
you all the best things you can do with your PC.
Each article features step-by-step instructions
to make learning new skills fast and enjoyable.
Get more from your favourite websites
We all have our list of favourite sites
but often we miss out on great features
EHFDXVH WKH\·UH GLIÀFXOW WR XVH RU KLGGHQ IURP
sight. We’ll show you how to do more online,
for a more satisfying web life.

Customise Windows to work your way
We all know how to do the basics but
getting the most from Windows isn’t
always easy. Our dedication to the operating
system means you get the very best tips and
tricks for all versions of Windows.
Discover new programs with our help
From speed-up and security software
to superb photo apps, there’s always
something new to try on your PC. The
Windows Store in Windows 10 and Windows
8.1 is packed with software to download.

April 2020 | | 23
/HʋʢɚKʝɦWɛ TRANSPORT
CONTROLS
Just like in a

Create your
hardware recorder,
you can play, record,
pause, skip forward
or skip backwards.

own podcast INPUT SOURCE

<ʝʦɠʔʦLȫɏ&ʋUʢȲɏ0ʋUʂKɪɸɗVʋ\ɡ Click here to select a
“Fancy being a podcaster? All different input, for
example by telling
you need is a nice microphone, your PC that you
your PC and an interesting idea” want to use an
external USB mic.
At a glance
A
podcast is like a radio
programme, but you
Skill level… download it or stream it
TRACK
Anyone can do it rather than listening to it on an FM
An Audacity project
Straightforward radio. If you’ve got a good idea for
can have multiple
one it’s never been easier to make
Tricky in parts colour-coded tracks
and publish your own. All you need
– one track for
is a PC, an app such as the free
speech, one for
Suitable for… Audacity (www.audacityteam.org)
music and so on.
Windows 10 and somewhere to upload your
finished podcast to.
Windows 8.1 Here, we’ll show you how to record,
Windows 7 import and edit speech and music in
Audacity. The app looks a bit scary
but it’s really very easy to use.
TRACK CONTROLS
Although it’s possible to record
a podcast using a PC’s internal Mute turns the track
microphone, we advise against it. The off, Solo turns
quality just isn’t good enough, and everything but the
decent-quality USB microphones track off, and the
are good and cheap. We’d also sliders enable you to
recommend a pop shield, which sits adjust gain and pan.
in front of your microphone and
stops plosives (‘p’ and ‘b’ sounds)
from being too loud.

Step-by-step Make your own podcast easily

1 Get audacious
You can use any audio app to record a podcast, but we’d
recommend looking for one that supports multi-track projects.
That means you can have more than one track of audio, so for
example you might have a track for your own voice, one for an
interviewee, another for little musical jingles and yet another for
songs. The Audacity app is multi-track, and it’s completely free.
2 Select your source
We strongly advise using a USB microphone: if you stick
with your PC’s built-in microphone the sound quality isn’t going
to be very good. It’s like the difference between hearing someone
down a crackly phone line and hearing them in person. Windows
should automatically recognise your mic: select it from the mic
drop-down at the bottom of Audacity’s toolbars.

24 | | April 2020
 Explore
Create your own podcast

Jargon buster!
Gain
Gain enables you to
increase or decrease
the power of an
audio signal to make
it louder or quieter.
SHORTCUTS
These give you quick Pan
Most of us hear with
access to common two ears. Panning
features including adjusts how much
zoom, cutting and of the sound goes
pasting and overall to each ear, giving
volume control. the impression that
it’s nearer one side
than the other.
Ambient noise
Ambient noise is
the noise occurring
in the background:
the hum of lights,
the sound of cars
or trains going past
EFFECTS and anything else
Do things to a you can hear in
section: you can a recording.
add weird effects,
fade in or out or just
remove unwanted
ambient noise.

ȉ$5ƺ,(›6%NJ67ƼǏ3
,ɑ\ʝʦɠSRGFDVɢLɡʖQɀʑʢʧȲʑɦ
EDȿHɍ \ʝɤFʋɚȾHFʝUɍʓUʝə
6ʘʪȼɏʋQɍʃȱʑɚʖʛSʝUɢʃȱɏ
ʋXʏLɛʖQWɛ$XGDʎLʤɨ

3 Check your volume

Look towards the top of the screen and you’ll see an icon of
a microphone; click on it and talk, and you should see the volume
level indicators – they start green and turn yellow, orange and
finally red as the volume increases. Chat for a bit and see what
they do. If they’re consistently hitting the red you’re too loud. Sit
further back, or turn down the mic with Windows’ volume control.
4 Red button to record
To record your voice simply press the red record button
– the one with the red dot towards the top left of the screen – and
start talking. As you do, you’ll see the jaggy blue lines shown here.
That’s the waveform of the sound waves you’re making. Keep an
eye on the volume indicators to make sure you’re not going into
the red; if you’re too loud, just stop, delete and record again.

April 2020 | | 25
 5 Import audio
Podcasts are rarely just one voice: they usually feature
guests, music or clips. You can add another audio track to your
Audacity project by clicking on File > Import. As you can see here,
it brings it in as a separate pair of tracks rather than adding it to
the end or replacing what you’ve recorded. For stereo files such as
songs, you’ll have a track for the left speaker and one for the right.
7 Cut and paste
You can move audio in exactly the same way you move
words around in Word. Simply highlight the section you want to
move, press [Ctrl] + [C] and move the cursor to the place you want
to put it. Now press [Ctrl] + [V]. Your selection has moved, but it’s
still on its own tracks, which means we can use the track controls
to adjust its gain and pan so it doesn’t overpower everything else.
9 Export the audio
Podcast services don’t import Audacity files, so while it’s
important to save your work you’ll also need to export an audio
file the podcast service can use. Different services have different
requirements (and will tell you what they are!) but if you’re
unsure, a CD-quality WAV file is a safe bet. Your podcast provider
will convert the WAV for downloading and streaming.
26 | | April 2020
6 Trim the track
We only want a bit of this song, so let’s trim it. To do that,
use your mouse to highlight the bit you want to get rid of and tap
the [Del] key. We’re going to do that on either side of the bit of
music we want, leaving just over 30 seconds of the song, and then
we’ll highlight the first five seconds and choose Effect > Fade In so
it comes in slowly. To add a fade to the end, choose Fade Out.
8 Mix it up
Mixing – adjusting tracks – is an important part of
podcasting: you don’t want music to be terrifyingly loud or
anyone to be too quiet. To adjust the level of a track, use the slider
at the left. Those marked with + and – reduce or increase that
track’s volume, while L and R move it between the left and right
speakers. Try experimenting with some effects here too.
10 Upload your podcast
The process for this is really simple but the specifics differ
from provider to provider, and there are lots and lots of providers:
they publish your finished podcast to Apple Podcasts, to Google
Play, to Spotify and to all the other main podcasting platforms.
You can usually publish your podcast for free, but the service will
put a little bit of advertising around it to pay the bills. Q
 Explore
Improve portraits in Luminar

/HʋʢɚKʝɦWɛ
Smooth skin in Luminar
<ʝʦɠʔʦLȫɏ,ʋɚ(ɃʑQȫʑɚVʋ\ɡ
´0DNLQJ D SRUWUDLW ÁDWWHULQJ EXWVWLOONHHSLQJLWQDWXUDOLVRQHRIWKHJUHDW
FKDOOHQJHV RI LPDJH HGLWLQJ +HUH ZH XVH /XPLQDU·V $, WRROV WR PDNH LW HDVLHUµ

W
e’re aware of the adage about not
throwing stones if you live in a
glass house, but sometimes,
especially if preparing an image that’s
going to get scrutinised, you need to
improve a portrait’s skin tone.
Many image editing apps will aid you in
this, from the context-aware healing tools
in Photoshop to the old-school sample-
based cloning brushes that simply paint
over imperfections from an area of skin
you’ve chosen. Recently, though, Luminar
included some new smart tools that tackle
the issue of skin smoothing without any
faffing around making manual selections
or choosing sample points.
A free trial of Luminar can be found at
http://skylum.com/luminar (drop down
the Luminar menu at the top) where you’ll
also find a full beginner’s guide. Original
image by Kayla Lyons.

Step-by-step (GLW\RXUSRUWUDLW

1 Open an image
Luminar lets you access your images in two ways. It can
watch a folder, chosen at setup, and display every image in it and
its subfolders. You then choose which to edit from a sea of
thumbnails. Alternatively, you can open a single image, which is
what we’re doing here, using the ‘+’ button at the top left or File >
Edit Single Image.
2 AI Face Enhancer
In the Portrait section of Luminar Looks – accessed with the
Looks button at the top of the interface – you’ll find tools to help
improve (or at least alter) a portrait. First is the AI Face Enhancer.
It pulls in the cheeks of our model, narrowing her face while
smoothing and slightly lightening her skin. To see before and
after views of a Look’s effect, press the Eye button, top middle.

3 Female portrait
The Female Portrait Look goes for a similar face-slimming
effect as the previous one, but adds a little softness too (above).
Better, certainly more dramatic, is the B&W Portrait Look, which
increases contrast and sharpness without narrowing the face. This
has the effect, however, of increased visibility of imperfections, no
matter how minor, on the model’s chin and shoulder.
4 AI Skin Enhancer
Open Edit mode from the top right, and choose the smiley
face icon that opens portrait-specific edits. The AI Skin Enhancer,
with its AI Skin Defects Removal tickbox, is at the top. Tick the box
and ramp up the slider to the right to get a strong effect – we get
a softening of the face and a lightening of the shadow, but every
portrait will be enhanced differently.

April 2020 | | 27
 FILE AND ‘+’ LOOKS BUTTON
Open images, or Open the Looks
whole folders of palette with this
them, from here. handy button.

5 Portrait enhancer
There’s a lot going on in the Portrait Enhancer, if you use the
dropdown arrow to reveal all its tools. Face Light will brighten the
face, but is best used for the removal of shadows or you risk losing
the natural skintone of your model. Red Eye Removal does what it
suggests, while Eye Whitening and Dark Circles Removal enhance
the eyes. The Eye Enhancer itself attempts to brighten eyes.

THE LOOKS
Looks open down
here, and can be
switched between
with this menu.

6 More portrait enhancements

Moving down the Portrait Enhancer palette, we get to Slim
Face and Enlarge Eyes, which are self-explanatory but should be
used with caution, especially the latter. Slim Face does a good job
of only affecting the face, but can stray into caricature territory.
Enlarge Eyes is again clever, but enlarging any part of an image
risks softness and artefacts as the app extrapolates new data.

7 Even more...
Eyebrow Improve darkens and increases contrast above the
eyes, useful if you’ve not worked with a makeup artist. Lip
Saturation and Redness are useful if your model is wearing red
lipstick, and while Lip Darkening can work on a natural face it’s
best left alone. Likewise Teeth Whitening, which can provide a
nuclear white flash if your model is exposing their choppers.
8 Split view
Along with the Eye icon that reverts the image back to its
original state while you hold it down, there is also a split view that
shows you before and after images of your edits, with a movable
terminator between the two. There is, unfortunately, no way to
make the terminator horizontal, but it’s a really useful way to
gauge how far your edits have taken you from the original image.

28 | | April 2020
 Explore
Improve portraits in Luminar

-DUJRQ EXVWHU
Look
Luminar’s term for a
one-shot filter.
BEFORE/AFTER
Hold down the Eye EDIT MODE Red Eye
to see the original Change between Effect caused by
image, or use the poor flash placement
Library and Edit that makes a
Before/After button modes here.
for a split view. subject’s eyes glow
red. Hard to achieve
today.

Artefacts
Wrongly-coloured
pixels caused by
enlarging an image
without supplying
new data.

At a glance
6NLOOOHYHO«
Anyone can do it
Straightforward
Tricky in parts

EDIT CATEGORIES 6XLWDEOHIRU«

Essentials, Creative,
Portrait and Pro, it’s Windows 10
all right here. Windows 8.1
Windows 7

ƮDŽ1›6%NJ67ƼǏ3
$ɡ/ʦʛʖQʋɠLɡɈQʝɚ
ȫHVʤʢXFʤʖɃɏHʏLWʝɠLWɡHʏLWɡ
ʋȾʑɚ›ɢPDȫɏȼʑʢPʋȸʑQɢʦQʤɵɗ
\ʝɤʑʩSʝUɢɈȸʑɦʓɵȵɏ 

9 AI Structure
Another way of softening skin is to go into the Essentials
section of Edit mode – the Sun icon on the right – and choose AI
Structure. This is a Clarity-like slider that begins by default in the
middle, allowing you to pull it to the left to produce a negative
effect. The Details Enhancer works the same, but if you completely
smear away all detail you end up with a very unnatural look.
10 Glow
Soft focus effects can be achieved with the Glow part of the
Creative Edits – the artist’s palette icon on the right. We like Soft
Focus Bright for the way it brightens skintones and retains
sharpness, but pushing it much over 50% results in a strange,
bloomy look. Experimenting is completely safe, however, as
there’s a reset button at the bottom right behind the ‘...’ menu. Q

April 2020 | | 29
/HʋʢɚKʝɦWɛ
Use emoji when
writing in Windows 10
<ʝʦɠʔʦLȫɏ0ʋʁɖ:\ʎL϶ʙɵɖ:ɵOVʝɚVʋ\ɡ
“You’re probably used to adding emoji to text
messages and social media posts, but you can also
use them within Windows via the emoji keyboard”

E
At a glance moji – those little smiley
faces and other symbols
Skill level… used to express feelings and
Anyone can do it ideas in text messages and social
Straightforward media posts – have become part of
modern language. While some
Tricky in parts people find emoji a little silly, most
have fully embraced them, and use
Suitable for… them to add emotion and a little
Windows 10 pizzazz to what they write.
But there is no need to limit your
Windows 8.1 use of emoji to the likes of Facebook
Windows 7 and messaging apps. You can use
Windows 10’s emoji keyboard to add
them to just about any application
without copying and pasting.
Microsoft hardly advertises the
feature, but once you’ve tried it out,
you’ll fall in love with it and start
using it more than you might think. Ƴ$Ǜ.›6%NJ67ƼǏ3
To gain access to the emoji ˜7ȱɏʑPʝʗɔȴʑʉERʋUɍFʋɚʤʪȼɏ
keyboard, you just need to have QRɢʝɻʙɨʑPʝʗɔ ʍXɢɪOVɛ
Windows 10’s/Autumn Creators ʣʪɺEɼOɡʋQɍNDʝPʝʗɔ–Ɉ
Update (Windows 10 version 1709) -ʋSʋȸHȿɏVʤʉȵɏRɑʑPRʤLFʝɚ™
or later installed.

Step-by-step Using the emoji keyboard

1 Accessing the emoji keyboard

There are two keyboard shortcuts you can use to access the
emoji keyboard (sometimes also referred to as the emoji panel):
press either [Win] and [;] or [Win] and [.] to activate it. When you
press either of these shortcuts, the keyboard will pop into view
ready for you to use – and there are various ways you can
navigate and use the emoji that are available.
2 Typing emoji
Whether you’re typing online or in an application such as
Microsoft Word, the process of entering emoji is the same. As you
type, press the shortcut to call up the emoji keyboard and browse
through the selection of emoji that is on offer. When you’ve found
what you need, just click the one you’re interested in and it will be
entered into the text. The emoji keyboard will close automatically.

30 | | April 2020

3 Finding emoji
There are a couple of ways to find the emoji you need. The
first is to simply scroll through the varied selection until you find
what you want. With so many to choose from, there’s no need to
scroll through dozens and dozens to get to one near the end, you
can click the icons representing the six categories – including
people, food and animals – to home in on what you’re looking for.
5 Customising emoji
Some emoji can be customised. Emoji showing people can
have various skin tones, and rather than display several versions
of the same emoji, the keyboard just shows one of each, and gives
you the option of changing skin colour. Call up the emoji
keyboard, move to the people section and you’ll see six coloured
dots. Click one, and the emoji will all change to this skin tone.
7 Typing symbols and kaomoji
The emoji keyboard is about more than just emoji; it
can also be used to enter various commonly used symbols
and Japanese punctuation-based kaomoji. When you activate
the keyboard, you can access the symbols section by clicking
the omega icon and, again, symbols are divided into numerous
individual sections.
Explore
Use emoji in Windows 10
4 Searching for emoji
When you have been using emoji for a while, you get to
know what’s available – and there are probably several that
you use far more frequently than others. Right after you have
activated the emoji keyboard, start typing your search term
– such as “smile”, “car” or “avocado” – and the emoji that match
your search term will be displayed ready for you to click on.
6 Frequently used emoji
When you launch the emoji keyboard, the clock icon can be
used to access your frequently used emoji. This saves you from
searching or scrolling through the lengthy list. You will notice that
the order of emoji shown in this section changes over time to
reflect your use of emoji – so if you use a laughing smiley a lot, it
will appear at the top of the list.
8 Emoji keyboard options
There is only one setting relating to the emoji keyboard. By
default, after you use the keyboard it will disappear from view. If
you regularly need to enter more than one emoji in a row, you can
change this. Click the Start button, type “emoji” and click the
Emoji panel settings option. Tick the box labelled Don’t close the
panel automatically after an emoji has been entered. Q
April 2020 | | 31
/HʋʢɚKʝɦWɛ
Master text suggestions
while typing
<ʝʦɠʔʦLȫɏ&ʋUʢȲɏ0ʋUʂKɪɸɗVʋ\ɡ
“Windows can speed up your typing with its clever
suggestions, and they’re not just for touch-screen
PCs. It can help with symbols and even emoji too.”

I
At a glance f you’ve ever entered text
using an Xbox One controller
Skill level… or on a smartphone’s small
Anyone can do it screen, you’ll know the joy of text
Straightforward suggestions: they’re a kind of
super-powered assistance that tries
Tricky in parts to guess what you’re typing as you
type it. For example if we typed “Wi”
Suitable for… there’s a pretty good chance that the
Windows 10 word we’re going for is ‘Windows’;
with text suggestions we could type
Windows 8.1 “Wi” and then select ‘Windows’ from
Windows 7 the list.
It turns out that text suggestions
are just as effective on fully-featured
PCs as they are on Xboxes and
touchscreen tablets. Unless you type
with 100% accuracy at a million
words per minute, we think you’ll find
typing suggestions enormously
helpful – so in this tutorial we’ll show ȉ$5ƺ,(›6%NJ67ƼǏ3
you how to enable them, how to use ,ɚ6HWʤʖQJɡ!'ʑʧLȪHɡ!
them and how to use Windows’ other 7ʪʠʖQɒȿɰȵHFɢ7ʪʠʖQɒ,QʣLɳKWɡ
features to make your typing faster WɛʏLVFʝɃʑɠKʝɦʛXɭɓȱɰʙɞ
and more fun.
$XWRFʝʢȾHFɢKDɡʔʖɃʑɚ\ʝɤ

Step-by-step Tame your typing in Windows 10

1 Ask for some help

Text suggestions aren’t just for tablets and other mobile
devices. You can have them for your desktop or laptop PC too. To
enable them. Go into Settings > Devices > Typing and scroll down
to Hardware Keyboard. You can now toggle the settings for Show
Text Suggestions As I Type and Autocorrect Misspelt Words I Type
on (or turn them off if they annoy you).
2 See the suggestions
We’ve brought up the on-screen keyboard here so you
can see what’s happening a bit more clearly (Settings > Ease of
Access > Keyboard > Use The On-Screen Keyboard). As we type,
Windows tries to work out what word we’re going for and
displays its suggestions in the row above the number keys. Just
select the correct one.

32 | | April 2020

Get suggestions everywhere
3 The
typing suggestions don’t just appear when you’re
editing a document in an app. They appear anywhere that you
can type in text, so for example here we’re giving our untitled
document a name. With a hardware keyboard, use the up, left and
right arrow keys to select the suggestion you’d like to use and
then tap the Space Bar or Enter key. The mouse works here too.
5 Use Autocorrect for symbols
Many kinds of writing require you to use symbols.
Commercial copywriting, for example, uses the copyright and
trade mark symbols a lot. If you’ve enabled Autocorrect in Word,
you can simply type the appropriate symbol between brackets
and Word turns it into the correct one – so for the copyright or
trade mark symbols, just type “(c)” or “(tm)” and then tap [Space].
7 Make your machine multilingual
If you work in multiple languages you can use the Symbol
keyboard by holding [Win], pressing [.] and tapping the Omega
symbol. But it’s often better to install the appropriate keyboard(s)
from Settings > Language > Install Language Features. This
enables you to swap between different languages’ keyboard
layouts by clicking the language icon near your Taskbar.
Explore
Master Windows’ text suggestions
4 Add some fun emoji
Windows makes it easy to find the perfect emoji to cheer
up your casual writing. To display the Emoji keyboard, press
[Win] + [.], and the keyboard will pop up. If you keep typing, the
Emoji keyboard will suggest appropriate emoji; use the arrow
keys to select and [Enter] to confirm. For more on using emoji in
Windows 10, see p30.
6 Crack the symbol code
Every letter, number and symbol has a four-digit number. If
you hold [Alt] and then type the number –  the copyright symbol
is 0169, a paragraph symbol is 0244 and so on – the appropriate
symbol appears. This only works on keyboards with their own
dedicated number pads: if your numbers are at the top of your
keyboard those keys do other things when you hold [Alt].
8 Experiment with accessibility
Windows 10 is packed with useful accessibility features, and
many of them control how the keyboard works. If you go into
Settings and search for Ease of Access Keyboard you can enable
features such as Sticky Keys, which makes it easier to access
keyboard shortcuts by enabling you to tap one key at a time, and
Filter Keys, which ignores brief or repeated keystrokes. Q
April 2020 | | 33
/HʋʢɚKʝɦWɛ
Create HDR photos with
free image editing apps
Mike Bedford investigates how to generate
dramatic photos, containing much more of
the tonal variation we actually see in a scene
A
ccording to a large majority of digital camera users,
the quality of photos depends on one thing and one
thing only: resolution, in megapixels. If only things
were that simple. In reality there are loads of facts and figures
that differentiate a good camera from a mediocre one, but
we’d like to think specifically about just one here: the dynamic
range. In plain English, this is a measure of the difference
between the dimmest and the brightest element in an image
that can be recorded.
You could find a range of up to 100,000:1 in some daylight
scenes, while the human eye can cope with many thousands
to one. The depressing fact is that cameras don’t come close
to the eye, even though a good DSLR will perform better, in
this respect, than most phones or point-and-click cameras.
The upshot is that it’s often impossible to correctly record the
subtleties of tone in both the brightest and darkest areas of
many scenes. The limited dynamic range of a camera can
result in a serious lack of detail compared to what you saw
with your eyes.
In particular, depending on the exposure, either lighter
areas such as the sky could be an almost uniform white, or
the darker areas, for example shadows, a uniform black. HDR
GIMP enables two images to be combined by
handling them as layers, the top one being
rendered partially transparent using a mask, so
parts of the bottom image show through.
34 | | April 2020
– that’s High Dynamic Range photography – overcomes this
problem, as we’re about to see.
Say cheese!
The basic principle of HDR photography is to take several
identical photos at different exposures, so that you capture
much more of the tonal variation in the scene than can be
recorded in a single shot. Later on we’ll investigate ways in
which those multiple shots can be combined to create a single
HDR photo, but to start we need to give some guidance on
taking a set of photos at different exposures, or a set of
bracketed shots as photographers would say.
Since they’ll eventually have to be combined, it’s
important that all the differently exposed shots are framed
identically. If there’s a slight error, you’d be able to correct it
by cropping your set of photos so they all show exactly the
same scene, and some HDR software can do that automatically
– but it’s better if you get it right from the outset. The only
surefire way of doing that is to use a tripod or rest your camera
on a rock.
Ideally, we’d also recommend using a remote control or
cable release, so that you don’t risk moving the camera on

its tripod when you press the shutter release – but the
benefit is somewhat reduced because you’re going to have
to touch your camera between shots, to adjust the exposure.
Actually, bracketed sets of photos can sometimes be taken
automatically with a single press of the shutter release button,
but this isn’t available on all cameras – and even when
available, it might not give you enough control for HDR work.
Click click click
The process involves fixing your camera on a tripod,
framing the scene, taking a photo at one exposure,
altering the exposure setting using your camera’s exposure
compensation feature, taking another photo, and continuing
until you’ve got all the exposures you need. You’ll need one
correctly exposed shot and, as a very minimum, shots that
are underexposed by one and two stops (-1EV, -2EV) and
overexposed by one and two stops (+1EV, +2EV). For some
scenes you’ll need to go further than -2EV and +2EV, but you’ll
learn from experience, and it’s always better to get more shots
than too few.
Try to work as quickly as possible to eliminate any problems
of clouds moving in the sky between shots – which,
depending on the method you use for combining the shots,
could cause problems. Don’t worry if you notice, when you
review your set of photos, that some are almost all black while
others are almost all white. While such shots would be
virtually useless as standalone photos, they could still contain
small areas that are correctly exposed and, therefore, will
make useful contributions to the final HDR photo.
“It’s common to take a
photo with a featureless
sky, even though it was a
pleasing blue to your eye”
Also, by all means capture as many exposures as you want,
but bear in mind that, when you come to process them, you
may not be able to use them all. In particular, shots over-
exposed by more than about 3EV could well suffer from
effects that will manifest themselves either as haze in parts of
the image or even a prismatic rainbow appearance. The
eagle-eyed might just notice this effect in a couple of the
images presented here.
With a bit of time and effort it might be possible to minimise
these artefacts in post-processing, but it’s easier to avoid it
from the start. The effect is known as lens flare and is a fairly
common phenomenon when shooting into the light.
Overexposing a shot increases the chances of it being visible.
Using a lens hood is a good way of reducing flare.
Finally, we need to provide some guidance on how to
underexpose and overexpose your shots. Generally speaking,
there are two methods. You can set the camera to Aperture
Priority mode and pick an aperture, so that when you use your
camera’s exposure compensation feature it alters the shutter
speed. Or you can set the camera to Shutter Priority mode and
pick the shutter speed, so when you use your camera’s
exposure compensation feature it alters the aperture. Both
have their pros and cons for general use but, in most cases,
you’ll get better results for HDR work if you use Aperture
Priority. This is because the aperture affects the depth of field,
which is something you’ll want to be the same between
individual shots.
The manual method
A common experience is to take a photo which ends up
having an almost featureless white or pale grey sky, even
though it was a pleasing blue colour with contrasting white
clouds to your eye. This happens when the camera exposes
Explore
Photo editing in GIMP
By using GIMP to combine a photo with the foreground exposed correctly
and one with a properly exposed sky, the resultant image includes a dramatic
sunset and a fully visible foreground.
the shot so that the foreground is correct, with the result
that the sky is overexposed. To start our investigation of
how to process a set of photos to generate an HDR result,
we’ll take exactly this case as an example of how to
increase dynamic range manually, using just a photo
manipulation package.
This isn’t the only scenario in which this method is
suitable, but it’s probably the most common. The effect
is different from that achievable with dedicated HDR
software that we’ll look at later, but the result often
appears more natural. We’re going to use GIMP (GNU
Image Manipulation Program, www.gimp.org), but you’ll
be able to get the same results using any photo editor
that supports layers and masks.
First, you need to select just two photos from your set
of bracketed shots, one in which the foreground is
perfectly exposed, and exactly as you’d like it to appear in
the final photo, and one in which the sky has all the detail
you want. Before opening them in GIMP, it might make
things easier if you first rename them with ‘foreground’
and ‘sky’ in their filenames. Now open both of the photos
in GIMP – they’ll appear in separate windows. Our next job
SINGLE-IMAGE HDR
Creating a proper HDR image requires several exposures
but, if you only have the one, you might be able to go
some way to replicating the effect. This is possible when
some tonal differences are present in areas that look
RVWHQVLEO\XQLIRUP 7KH PRVW LQWXLWLYH ZD\ RI ÀQGLQJ RXW LI
this is the case in GIMP is to select Colors > Brightness-
Contrast and try adjusting the Brightness slider to the left.
If the result is that a uniform white sky simply becomes a
uniform grey, then there is no detail in the sky, so it’s
game over. Conversely, moving the Brightness slider to the
right will reveal if there’s any hidden detail in apparently
uniform dark areas.
If you discover hidden detail in the light and dark areas,
ÀUVWUHGXFHWKHEULJKWQHVV XQWLO DFFHSWDEOH GHWDLO FDQ EH
seen in the light areas and save the result with a different
ÀOHQDPHDQGWKHQ GR WKH VDPH ZLWK WKH GDUN DUHD <RX
now have two photographs of the scene, one with detail
LQWKHGDUNDUHDVDQG RQH ZLWK GHWDLO LQ WKH OLJKW <RX FDQ
now use these two images to generate an HDR image
using GIMP.
April 2020 | | 35

In Luminance HDR’s tone-mapping stage, the HDR image is rendered in such a
way that it can be displayed on screen or printed.
is to keep the sky image as the background or base image,
and to place the foreground image as a layer above that
base image.
So go to the foreground image, select it ([Ctrl] + [A]) and
copy it ([Ctrl] + [C]). You can now close the foreground image,
discarding any changes. You’ll now have just the one image
open – the sky – and you’ll notice in the Layers dock that
there’s only the one layer. Next, select Edit > Paste as > New
Layer and you’ll notice that the foreground image appears
as a new layer called Clipboard. You might want to rename
it as Foreground by right-clicking it and selecting Edit Layer
Attributes. At this point, you could just delete the top part
of the foreground layer to allow the dramatic sky from the
sky later to show through. However, this is destructive, in
the sense that once you’ve exited GIMP and, therefore,
flushed its undo buffer, you can’t undelete anything.
Instead, we’re going to apply a transparency mask to the
foreground layer. So right-click the foreground layer and
select Add Layer Mask, accepting the default of initialising
to white (full opacity), before clicking on Add. You’ll notice
that a white rectangle, representing the mask, appears next
to the foreground layer. Before going any further, and
assuming that your two images are correctly registered,
lock them both to ensure you don’t accidentally shift one
layer with respect to the other. To do this, click the right-
most box to the left of the thumbnail image of both layers
and a chain icon will appear to show the lock.
Now all that remains to be done is to make the mask on
HANDLING MOVEMENT
Any movement between exposures is potentially a
problem. Clouds moving in the sky is a common example,
although a city scene with moving people and vehicles is
clearly much more of a challenge. While the two methods
we’ve looked at here don’t produce exactly the same sort
RI+'5HIIHFWWKHSUHVHQFHRIPRYHPHQWPLJKWLQÁXHQFH
your choice of which of them to use.
Unlike some other HDR software, Luminance HDR
claims to handle movement. However, there’s a limit to
how well this can work, and the result might not be
entirely satisfactory. Nevertheless, in the case of scenes
that contain large moving objects, there might well be
no alternative.
With the case of movement of clouds in the sky, the
method of combining two images in GIMP may well give
better results. This is because the horizon acts as the
demarcation between the two images so now, of course,
WKHVN\DQGFORXGVLQWKHÀQDOLPDJHZLOOEHWDNHQIURP
just one of the pair of exposures. The fact that the clouds
in the other exposure might be in an entirely different
part of the sky is, therefore, irrelevant.
36 | | April 2020
the foreground image transparent in the areas where you
want the sky to show through. Do this by selecting the mask,
as indicated by it having a white border, and painting it black
where you want it to be transparent. Select black as the
foreground colour in the Toolbox dock and select the
paintbrush tool. Now just paint the mask black, as necessary,
starting with a large brush, and reducing the size (the square
bracket keys reduce and increase the brush size). Zoom in as
necessary to define the edge more accurately.
If you accidentally make too much of the mask transparent,
just make it opaque again by painting in white. When you’ve
finished, save the image to preserve the layers and masks, and
also use the Export option to generate a JPEG file in which all
the layers and masks are correctly combined.
The automatic method
You could use GIMP to create an HDR image with more than
two photos, but generally speaking if you want to go beyond
the sort of effect we’ve just seen by combining a much larger
number of photos, a dedicated HDR package is the way to go.
Here we’re going to see how to use one called Luminance
HDR (http://qtpfsgui.sourceforge.net/)which, in our
experience, gives good results.
The first example we’ve chosen, while not an especially
common scene, was picked because it has an unusually
high-dynamic range. The scene in question (see top-left) was
taken just inside a cave entrance, looking out. A common way
of photographing this view is with the outside landscape
exposed normally so that the cave is rendered almost totally
black, framing the image. While this would be a perfectly
acceptable composition, we wanted to do something a bit
different, so we shot no fewer than six photos, with different
exposures separated by 1EV.
At one end of the range the outdoor scenery was rendered
well, but the cave interior was totally black, while at the other
end, the scene outside the cave was totally white, but we
could see some detail in the cave. Even in this latter case, the
cave interior was still modestly illuminated and, while we
could have gone further, we took the view that caves are
supposed to look somewhat gloomy.
Our first step in turning these into an HDR image is to start
Luminance HDR. Using the program is pretty intuitive. Choose
‘New HDR Image’ and then, in the HDR Creation Wizard, select
the images you want to combine. The images are loaded and
an estimate of the exposure appears for each. You can correct
these if needed. Click Next to go to the wizard’s second
screen. Unselect the Preview tickbox, which will cause the
Compute button to change to a Finish button, which you
should now click on. After some time, you’ll be taken to the
Tonemap window.
By the time the Tonemap window is displayed, the HDR
image will have already been generated, but there’s a
problem. In much the same way that a camera’s CCD can’t
record an HDR image, ordinary (non-HDR)monitors can’t
display them and printers can’t print them. In that sense,
creating a HDR photo is a pointless exercise, or at least it
would be without tone mapping. Tone mapping aims to
process an HDR image, preserving as much as possible of
the tonal range it contains, while making it suitable for
display on ordinary hardware. Inevitably this causes some
artefacts, which can range from subtle to extreme – although
even the latter can result in a visually attractive result, albeit
not altogether natural.
Tonemap options
At the left of the Tonemap window are loads of options that
control the way in which the tone mapping operates. Next is a
preview of the currently selected options and, for those who
want a bit less choice, the small images at the right represent
various presets that you can select. We suggest that you
browse the presets first of all, and then, if none of them really
fit the bill, start playing with the individual controls. Bear in
 Explore
HDR photography in GIMP

mind, though, that with 15 different operators (algorithms), like JPEG. As the
with between one and five slider controls and a few tickboxes, name suggests, this
you could be busy for quite some time. is the raw image
The tone mapping default settings, as shown by the directly from the
thumbnails, tend not to include the more surreal and garish camera’s sensor,
type of images that are often thought of as HDR. Instead, to with no in-camera
varying degrees, most but not all of them are moderately processing carried
realistic in appearance. What’s more, playing with the out. Different
controls doesn’t produce really over-the-top results. If you manufacturers
do crave that ‘traditional’ HDR look, we suggest that you have different
select the Mantiuk ’06 operator with the minimum Contrast specifications for
Factor and the maximum Saturation Factor. If that doesn’t their RAW formats,
go far enough for you, there’s always the option of but typically they
importing the output of Luminance HDR into GIMP for a store 12 or 14 bits
bit of post-processing. per pixel per primary None of the exposures of this cave entrance
come close to representing the full dynamic
While using Luminance HDR to combine images you colour, compared to range of the scene, but combining them in
won’t have burnt your bridges once you decide on a tone 8 bits for a JPEG file. Luminance gives an effective result.
mapping. The non-tone-mapped HDR image can be saved That might
as an HDR file format, of which Luminance HDR supports not sound a huge
several. This means that you can open this HDR image in difference, but each additional bit doubles the number of
Luminance HDR later on and try out alternative tone tonal values that can be represented. In other words, a RAW
mappings. It also means, of course, that you can share your file has a much larger dynamic range than a JPEG file and, in
HDR images with others, or carry out the tone mapping using that respect, it’s almost an HDR format. The reason for
different software. mentioning this is that Luminance HDR can import RAW files,
Our reference to HDR file formats brings us to the subject of and even if you only import a single one, you can go on to
RAW files. As you might be aware, some cameras save images tone-map it, producing a similar result to that achievable with
in a format known as RAW, in addition to more familiar ones a few JPEG files. Q

If tone mapping is pushed to the extreme, the

end result might not quite be realistic, but the
end result can be quite eye-catching.

April 2020 | | 37
MISSED AN ISSUE?
Our website stocks up to six months’ worth of back issues
– we deliver worldwide and all prices include shipping

From £5.99 From £5.99 From £5.99

ISSUE 172 MARCH 2020 ISSUE 171 FEBRUARY 2020 170 JANUARY 2020

From £5.99 From £5.99 From £5.99

ISSUE 169 CHRISTMAS 2019 ISSUE 168 DECEMBER 2019 ISSUE 167 NOVEMBER 2019

FOR BACK ISSUES GO TO

www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk

38 | | April 2020
 Explore
Use a Microsoft account across multiple PCs

/HʋʢɚKʝɦWɛ
Sign in to multiple PCs
<ʝʦɠʔʦLȫɏ0ʋʁɖ:\ʎL϶ʙɵɖ:ɵOVʝɚVʋ\ɡ
“If you use two or more computers, a Microsoft account can make
your life a great deal easier – here’s what you need to know”

T
here are many benefits to signing
into Windows 10 with a Microsoft
account rather than a local one.
These benefits are felt all the more if you
use more than one PC or other Windows
10 device, as it makes it possible to
synchronise settings between devices.
If you have been using Windows 10 for
some time, it’s possible that you’re not
currently using a Microsoft account. But if
you’ve installed the operating system
recently, you may well have noticed that
you were not able to avoid signing in with
one. Here, we are going to take a look at
what it means to use a Microsoft account,
and how to switch to one if you’re not
already doing so. You’ll find that it can be
used to not only get much more from
Windows itself, but to gain access to other
Microsoft services, and the ability to
manage everything from one place.

Step-by-step Microsoft accounts in Windows 10

1 Add a Microsoft account during installation

When you first install Windows 10 you’re given the
opportunity to sign into your Microsoft account and start saving
and synchronising data. In more recent versions of Windows 10, it
has become almost impossible to avoid using a Microsoft account
rather than a local one, but it is still worth keeping an eye open
during installation make sure you don’t miss your opportunity.
2 Switch from local to Microsoft account
If you have been using Windows 10 for a while, you may
well have created a local account during the initial setup process
– but you can easily convert it to a Microsoft account. Open
Settings > Accounts, and click the Sign in with a Microsoft
account instead link under Your Info. You’ll then be taken through
the process of creating or switching to a Microsoft Account.

3 Enable setting synchronisation

Once you are signed into your Microsoft account, you can
configure synchronisation options. Within Settings > Accounts,
click the Sync your settings link to the left, then make sure the
Sync settings toggle is in the On position. By default, Windows
will synchronise your desktop theme, passwords, language
preference, Ease of Access settings, and some other options.
4 Selectively disable synchronisation
You may use your Microsoft account to log into a home
computer and a work machine, and might not want to sync
everything between the two. For example, you might want to use
a different desktop theme on your work computer to look a little
more professional! In Sync your settings, just toggle any of the
switches to the Off position to stop them from syncing.

April 2020 | | 39
 Ƴ$Ǜ.›6%NJ67ƼǏ3
6LʔɚʖQWɛ(GȰɏʨLʃɓ\ʝʦɠ
0LʎURɡ‫ގ‬DȪFʝʦQɢʋQɍ\ʝɤ
ʨɵɸɗȩɏɪɬȵɏWɛʣʪQɋ\ʝʦɠ
ɄɰɊȾɰODɀHɍȿHWʤʖQJɡ

5 Managing your Microsoft account

Being an online account means that you can manage it
from your web browser – head to https://account.microsoft.com.
From this page you can edit your profile, change your picture and
password, and keep on top of the financial side of things. If you
use Microsoft Office, OneDrive or other services, you can manage
their settings, and control payment options from your account

START MENU
A quick way to
access information
and settings relating
to your account can
be found in the
Start menu.

6 Signing into a second PC

Part of the point of using a Microsoft account is to use it on
a second – or third or fourth! – PC. If you get a new laptop or
desktop, you can sign into your account during the initial setup
process, or at a later time. To add it later, head to the Family &
other users section of Settings > Accounts and click the Add
someone else to this PC link before signing into your account.

7 Sharing a computer
A similar process can be used to share a computer
between two or more people. To add people to your computing
family, click the Add a family member link and sign into the
account as normal. Accounts can be set up as Administrators
with unlimited access to the computer, or Limited users to restrict
what they are able to do.
8 Using parental controls
One of the benefits of signing into Windows 10 with a
Microsoft account is that it gives you access to powerful parental
control options. If you have children, you can set them up with
their own Microsoft account at https://family.microsoft.com/, add
them to Settings > Accounts as a child, and then monitor and
limit what they are able to do online and within Windows.

40 | | April 2020
 Explore
Use a Microsoft account across multiple PCs

ACCOUNT
INFORMATION
Within Settings you
can see information
about your account
including whether it
is an administrator
Jargon buster!
Microsoft account
A quick and easy
sign-in option which
uses your email
address and
password to give you
access to a range of
Microsoft services
from Windows 10
and Skype, to
OneDrive and Office.
Local account
Also known as an
offline account, a
local account is a
traditional type of
Windows user
account which is not
linked to an email
address.

Synchronisation
A technique of
copying data
SYNC OPTIONS between computers
If there are some to keep files and
settings you would settings the same
like to keep on a across two or more
particular computer machines you use.
you can disable
some options.
At a glance
ADDITIONAL USERS ONEDRIVE Skill level…
If you share your Windows 10 will not Anyone can do it
computer, each user synchronise files Straightforward
can sign in with their between computers, Tricky in parts
own MS account so but you can use
their data can be OneDrive to do
synchronised. just this. Suitable for…
Windows 10
Windows 8.1
Windows 7

9 Configure sign-in options

Go to the Sign-in options section of Settings > Accounts
and you can choose various ways to sign into your account. The
Require sign-in settings can make Windows require a sign-in
when you’ve been away for a while. When you start up your PC,
you can just click the account you want to use, and the Start
menu can be used to switch between them too.
10 Synchronise file with OneDrive
Windows 10 doesn’t sync documents between computers,
but you can use OneDrive. Sign into OneDrive using your
Microsoft account, and configure it to sync files between PCs –
you need to remember to save them into your OneDrive folder.
Files will be uploaded to your OneDrive online storage, and then
back to your other PCs the next time you sign in. Q

April 2020 | | 41
/HʋʢɚKʝɦWɛ
Update notification
and action settings
<ʝʦɠʔʦLȫɏ0ʋʁɖ:\ʎL϶ʙɵɖ:ɵOVʝɚVʋ\ɡ
“We show you just how useful Windows 10’s
Action Centre can be, and how you can
WDNH FRQWURO RI QRWLÀFDWLRQV RQFH DQG IRU DOOµ

N
At a glance otifications in Windows 10
let you get on with using
Skill level… your computer without
Anyone can do it worrying about missing out on
Straightforward anything. The Action Centre – found
on the right-hand side of the screen
Tricky in parts – is where you’ll find a history of all
the notifications generated by
Suitable for… Windows, apps and websites.
Windows 10 Rather than face a constant barrage
of messages, Microsoft includes
Windows 8.1 numerous settings that can be used
Windows 7 to take control of the notifications
you see. You can, for instance, opt to
hide notifications from certain
applications, or choose to mute
notifications during office hours to
enable you to concentrate on work.
If you’ve been baffled by
notifications, we’re here to guide you Ƴ$Ǜ.›6%NJ67ƼǏ3
through how to better manage them
$ʡʦLɭɖʋQɍHDʣɨZʋɨWɛ
so they are helpful rather than
annoying. We’ll also look at how you DFȪHVɡʃȱɏ$FʤLʝɚ&ʑQʤȾɏ
can use the Action Centre to gain LɡWɛXȿɏʃȱɏȴʑʉERʋUɍ
quick access to handy options. ʂKʝUWʎXɢ>:ʖɚ@>$@

Step-by-step Changing notification settings

1 Accessing notifications and changing settings

When a notification is generated by a web site, app, or
Windows itself, it will pop up to the lower right of the screen. You
can also see a list of archived notifications by clicking the Action
Centre button to the far right of the task bar – it looks like a little
speech bubble. In Action Centre, you can click the Manage
notifications link to be taken to the relevant section of Settings.
2 Enable, disable and configure notifications
In the Notification and actions section of Settings, you can
disable all notifications by flicking the toggle to the Off position.
Just beneath this, you will find five other notification settings that
can be switched on or off, and they all have descriptive labels that
explain what they do. You might, for the sake of privacy, want to
hide notifications from your lock screen so others can’t see them.

42 | | April 2020

3 Control app notifications
Many – but not all – apps can generate notifications, and
some are more useful than others. Scroll down to Get notifications
from these apps, and you can opt out of notification from certain
apps. You can also click the app name and indicate whether you’d
like to see banners or Action Centre notifications, whether sound
should play, and so on.
5 Additional Focus Assist options
You can also use triggers, or rules, to determine which Focus
Assist settings should be used. At the bottom of the Focus Assist
settings, you can use the four toggles to indicate when the
feature should be enabled: when you have a duplicate display
running (perhaps you’re giving a presentation), when you’re
playing a game, or when you have an app in fullscreen mode.
7 Using Quick Actions
The Action Centre is also home to Quick Action buttons,
which can access and change settings. Click the Action Centre
button in the taskbar and you’ll see the buttons to the lower right
of the screen – you may need to click the Expand link to see all of
the available buttons. The buttons mostly act as toggles, enabling
you to enable and disable Wi-Fi, Flight mode and so on.
Explore
Windows’ notification settings
4 Using Focus Assist
The are times when you don’t want to be pestered by
notifications. This is where Focus Assist helps, and you’ll find a
Focus Assist section in Settings. You can opt to see everything, or
tone things down to limit things to alarms an only see important
notifications and alarms, you deem to be priority – click
Customise your priority list to configure this.
6 Managing notifications
Notifications will remain in the Action Centre until you clear
them – and you’ll be alerted to this when the Action Centre icon
changes. You can click a notification to be taken to the app that
generated it, or click the ‘x’ at the upper right of a notification to
clear it. You can also opt to clear all the notifications generated by
an app, or even every single notification, in one fell swoop.
8 Customising Quick Action buttons
Focus mode lets you toggle between three settings rather
than just on and off, and All Settings serves as a shortcuts to
Windows 10’s Settings. You can right click most buttons to access
more settings relating to that particular Quick Action, or right
click an empty area and select the Edit option to add or remove
individual buttons as you see fit. Q
April 2020 | | 43
/Hʋʢɚ Kʝɦ Wɛ
Stop
p all browser
snooping with Tor
Neil Mohr investigates the shadowy world of onion
routing, and how it can be used to shrug off any
surveillance of your online activities

T
hey’re watching you. They’re
watching everything you do
online. You’d think we were being
paranoid, but it’s part of their mission
statement: the UK government is part of
the international Five Eyes group of
Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United
Kingdom and United States, which have
worked together since the end of World
War II to collate and share intelligence, and
that includes the internet use of citizens.
In the digital age, that means intercepting,
storing, and analysing all Internet traffic.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that local
laws can stop a nation state from spying
on its own citizens. If you’re one of the Five
Eyes, just get your buddy overseas to do
the spying, then report back. Tempora, a UK
programme, splices off the undersea fibre-
optic backbone of the internet, duplicating
all the data transmitted over it, with the NSA
sharing that data. Damn crafty, we Brits.
Back in the US, programmes such
as PRISM created a legal framework for
the NSA to spy on targeted US citizens,
immunising co-operating US companies
from prosecution. Or take MUSCULAR for
bulk copying of Google and Yahoo! data
outside US territory, for the NSA and GCHQ
to rifle through. And who knows what
Russia, North Korea, and China are up to…
It’s not paranoia if it’s actually happening.
The good news is that the open-source
community has brought together a host
of privacy technology to offer a verified
solution: Tor.

the internet to be worldwide, you have to allow data

A
packets to be passed across borders – this enables nation
Router A Key states to do some dubious rerouting of entire tranches of
data, which also strengthens the argument for a system
Router B Key
such as Tor. But what exactly is that system?
Router C Key

Message
Stinky onions
The whole reason Tor was originally called The Onion
Router is that your data and destination address are
locked up inside an onion of encryption. As your data
packets move through the Tor network [Image A], each
relay node unpeels one layer of encryption, which points
to the next node, until the final exit node is reached, and
Router A the unencrypted data is passed to the end destination.
Router B So, the entry node doesn’t know what the data is or
Router C
Source Destinatio
where it’s going, but keep in mind it does know where
you are. Intermediate relay nodes don’t know where the
data is going or what the data is, while the final exit node
doesn’t know where the data has come from, but it does
Tor (or, as it used to be known, The Onion Router) is a project know the destination, and it can interrogate the data
designed to provide anonymous access to the internet. An easy unless you’re using a secured HTTPS site. Of course, you
way to think of it is as a browser VPN that anyone can use. also need to bear in mind that the final destination can
That’s a good starting point, but what’s wrong with your
current VPN service? It says it offers you privacy and anonymous
browsing, right? Yes, but how do you know it actually does? This B
isn’t to say VPNs are useless, it’s pointing out that they’re not a
silver bullet. If no third parties test their systems for security or
flaws, how do you know they’re secure at all?
This brings us back to Tor and what it can do for our online
privacy. It might help to very quickly say why you don’t have
online privacy in the first place, beyond the notion that every
government in the world is probably monitoring you online. It’s
largely down to how the Internet was developed and has to be
run. The internet is a precarious stack of open protocols built up
over decades, and back in the 1960s, everything was done in plain
text – that didn’t change for a very long time; HTTP is transmitted
© WIKIPEDIA.ORG

in plain text.
Even today, the domain-name routing of your browsing and
email message headers remains open to scrutiny, and if you want

44 | | April 2020
 Advanced Windows 10
Browse anonymously with Tor

TOR AND HTTPS IN USE

SITE.COM SITE.COM• SITE.COM•
USER/PW •USER/PW• •USER/PW•
DATA •DATA• •DATA•
LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION

SITE.COM•
•USER/PW•
•DATA•
LOCATION

SITE.COM•
•USER/PW•
•DATA•
LOCATION
SITE.COM•
USER/PW•
DATA• SITE.COM•
LOCATION •USER/PW•
•DATA•
LOCATION
SITE.COM•
USER/PW• SITE.COM
DATA• USER/PW
LOCATION• DATA
LOCATION•
SITE.COM
SITE.COM• •USER/PW
•USER/PW •DATA
•DATA LOCATION•
LOCATION• SITE.COM
USER/PW
DATA
LOCATION•

KEY
HIDDEN BY TOR SITE.COM
HIDDEN BY HTTPS •USER/PW SITE.COM
INTERNET CONNECTION •DATA USER/PW
EAVESDROPPING LOCATION• DATA
DATA SHARING LOCATION•
TOR NETWORK

Take a look at how much privacy
protection Tor and HTTPS offer
when used. Without either Tor
or HTTPS at every step in the
process, anybody with access to
your connection can potentially
snoop on all your activity,
including the destination site,
your username and password,
your user data, and your location.
Using HTTPS helps to
protect your user data, and your
username and password at all
stages.
Using Tor masks your
destination site, username and
password, data, and, to a certain
degree, your location. Adding a
VPN would further protect your
location details, but we should
point out that there could be
government bodies directly
accessing ISP data or the site.com
services via unknown snooping

know everything about you if you’re not taking care to anonymise
yourself correctly.
Using tor
The Tor Project has done a grand job of making it super-easy
to  install and run; it’s not much more complex than going to
www.torproject.org, grabbing the installer, running that, and
using the Tor Browser. You can ignore the Configure options
when Tor is first run – they’re for connecting via a proxy, and can
be set from within the browser later if need be.
© EFF.ORG, CC BY 3.0 US
because you have no idea what tracking they might
have implemented within them. However, there are two
default plugins that we’ll cover shortly, explaining why
they’re so handy.
By default, Tor forgets and wipes everything from
session to session, because it’s in what it calls ‘Permanent
private browsing mode’. If you’re after a more casual
browsing mode, you might want to select Menu >
Options > Privacy & Security, and disable Always use
private browsing mode under History. This forces a

If the Tor browser looks familiar, it’s because it’s a  respin of
Firefox, tooled to work directly with Tor, offering specific settings,
pre-configured plugins, and security certified to be as secure as
possible out of the box. A regular warning is not to use random
plugins or indeed other browsers (especially Chrome) over Tor,
restart, and retains cookies and your browsing history – if
you’re after higher anonymity, this is not recommended.
Moving security in the stronger direction, the Shield
icon in the toolbar – or the Menu > Options > Privacy &
Security > Security section – offers three distinct security

April 2020 | | 45
 GOING ON TOR
While we might have talked about using
‘portable’ versions of Tor in terms of
releases you can take with you on a USB
drive that will run on any PC, what about
mobile devices? The double good news is
that, over recent years, the Tor Project has
come on in leaps and bounds with regard to
Android and iOS apps. Previously, it took a
similar multi-tool approach to mobile as it did
for PCs, but thankfully, it’s all now wrapped
up in a single easily installed package called
the Tor Browser – ignore Orbot, that’s the
old release.
Just download the Tor Browser and it
works the same on your smartphone or
tablet as it does on your PC. It’s available
via the standard Google Play Store or direct
as an APK from the Tor Project itself at
https://www.torproject.org/
download/#android (you need to know if
your device has a 64- or 32bit Arm CPU).
Due to Apple policies, the Tor Project on
iOS has had a bumpy time, but it’s available
as the Onion Browser, which works a treat,
and is right up to date. You can grab it from
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/onion-
browser/id519296448.

levels. It defaults to Standard, which is already pretty secure, but
does still enable JavaScript, which many distrust. The annoying
issue is that most websites require JavaScript to run, so if it were
disabled, Tor would be mostly useless to the average user – it’s a
trade-off between usability and security.
The next security level of Safe turns off JavaScript for all sites
that can’t use the encrypted HTTPS mode, while it disables audio,
video, and WebGL unless you click to allow them. The highest
level disables JavaScript entirely. And as for Flash – a security
nightmare at the best of times – Tor just won’t go there. In general,
the advice not to run third-party plugins is down to the fact that
you have no real idea what data they could transmit back to base.
To help secure your connections, Tor makes use of two widely
used browser plugins: HTTPS Everywhere and NoScript. HTTPS
is a version of the standard HTTP plain-text protocol that’s
been encrypted. This instantly means no one can read the data
travelling between your PC and the destination server. However,
it’s not always enabled by default, hence the use of the plugin to
do just that – however, it can’t enable HTTPS on sites that don’t
support it. The NoScript plugin offers per-site control over almost
every aspect of the code run by that website. Tor makes use of this
to restrict or disable code that could leak data.
Identities and circuits
When you first connect to the Tor network, this is called your
initial Identity – basically, all data is sent to the same entry node
for a set period of time (usually two or three months), before
you’re automatically cycled to another. The series of encrypted
server hops after this, and the exit node, is called the circuit.
When connected to a website, click the ‘i’ icon at the start of the
URL address bar to see the established Tor circuit, along with an
option to reset this [Image B].
Tor offers two ways to reset the circuit or the Identity. The basic
option is the Tor circuit – this most often crops up when an exit
node IP has been banned by a service. Choosing a new circuit
provides you with a new exit node. It causes the currently active
tab or window to be reloaded over a new Tor circuit. Other open
tabs and windows from the same website will use the new circuit
as well once they are reloaded.
Selecting a New Identity takes this a step further. Alongside
requesting a new entry node, it closes all your open tabs and
windows, clears all private information, such as cookies and
browsing history, and uses new Tor circuits for all connections. It’s
like restarting the browser as well as your router.
– again, this is down to whatever location your Tor exit
node is located in. Most sites base your location on this
IP, then serve up their site or service in that language.
You just have to switch the site’s language preferences.
You might get messages that your IP is blocked, or that
your account or system may have been compromised.
Again, this is down to unscrupulous types abusing the
Tor system and giving exit-node IPs a bad name. Typically,
the New Identity option can solve these issues.
Running nodes
We mentioned various types of nodes, which is a fancy
name for a server or PC running Tor in a special mode.
By default, you run Tor in client mode – you’re only
accessing the Tor network, rather than helping to run it.
The network itself is made up of three node types: entry,
relay, and exit. The most widespread are relay nodes, the
intermediary nodes that pass encrypted onion packages
within the Tor network [Image C] – technically, when you
install the Tor Browser, you have everything required to
run one, but we’re not going to cover this. An entry node
is simply a relay node that’s proved to be reliable enough
for the classification upgrade.
An exit node is where Tor traffic re-enters the standard
internet and is sent on to its destination. If you wanted,
you could run an exit node, but this is not recommended.
Due to the nature of the traffic, exit nodes can draw the
ire of not only your ISP, but also local law enforcement.
The Tor Project advises you to inform both your ISP and
local authorities that you’re running an exit node to avoid
such issues. So, it’s not something you should do on a
whim, or with company servers.
The deep, dark web
Tor implements a network within the internet network,
and just like the internet, the Tor network can and
does have its own network of anonymous websites
that get called various things, such as the dark web
or deep web, along with Tor Hidden Services. There
C

Weird browsing
We should highlight some of the more common issues you can
run into when browsing the web from the view of a Tor exit node.
Exit node IPs get flagged up for all manner of nefarious reasons,
so if a site or service sees you’re coming from an exit-node IP, it’ll
likely trigger a red flag and additional security checks on you,
which you wouldn’t experience browsing normally.
One common annoyance is repeated captcha challenges.
Where you might be used to getting one normally, expect
© TORFLOW

multiple challenges before you’re allowed access to a service

or website. Also, some websites turn up in foreign languages

46 | | April 2020
 Advanced Windows 10
Browse anonymously with Tor
D

is a whole unseen world of .onion anonymous websites that
live within the Tor network. You’re able to access sites with
https://<16-character hash>.onion – as an example, Facebook
has an onion service at https://facebookcorewwwi.onion
that enables people living in oppressive regimes to still use
Facebook [Image D]. Or DuckDuckGo offers an onion site at
https://3g2upl4pq6kufc4m.onion.
As you can imagine, a good chunk of the dark web is taken
up by illegal activities, but that certainly doesn’t mean there’s no
room for good elements. You can find a reasonable list of legal
sites at https://github.com/alecmuffett/real-world-onion-sites.
Stay safe out there
Tor isn’t a magic bullet to complete online privacy or anonymity
– if you do something silly, you will expose yourself to anyone
monitoring. A simple example is that if you log into a service
via Tor using your real identity, that service and any bodies that
are able to monitor that service can identify you. It’s the
same if you make payments with accounts linked to
your real identity.
Sharped-eyed readers might have spotted we
mentioned that entry nodes (aka guard nodes) know
your real IP, although they have no idea where your data
is going. This has led to speculation that government-
run entry nodes could collate logs that tally with exit
node traffic to monitor Tor users. This leads some people
to run a Tor-over-VPN combination, which certainly
would remove this one weak element in the Tor system.
This particularly applies to Google services, searches,
and accounts. It’s strongly recommended to only
use DuckDuckGo for search when on Tor, as it has a
reputable record of not tracking its search users, while
Google absolutely does track you. This extends to not
using the Google 4.4.4.4 and 8.8.8.8 DNS services. Q

CHASING YOUR TAILS

What happens if you’re out and about
and want to access the Tor network, but
on someone else’s PC? This could be at
an Internet cafe or perhaps using a work
system where you can’t install software. Say
hello to Tails, an open-source OS project
that integrates Tor. Based around a Linux
distro called Debian, Tails provides an ISO
disk image that you can install to a DVD or
USB sick. This can then be booted directly
by most PCs, and the OS runs straight off
the drive.
This gives you direct access to all
© TAILS, FACEBOOK
down and remove the stick, and all traces
that you were ever there will be gone.
To get started, head to https://tails.boum.
org, and click “Download.” It offers step-by-
step install instructions for Windows, Mac,
and Linux, but you basically need to grab the
ISO, and use Etcher to write the image to a
USB drive.
To run Tails on a PC, you must select the
boot drive when the PC is first powered up at
the BIOS/UEFI. Many systems offer an early
Boot menu, accessed by tapping F9 (HP), F12
(Dell/Lenovo), F8 (Amibios), or F11 (Award

the usual tools you’d like, alongside Tor BIOS) while powering up. Look for your USB
browsing, but once you’re done, just power device, and off you go!

April 2020 | | 47
 SPEED UP
WINDOWS
ALL THE BEST TIPS AND TRICKS TO
MAKE YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM
RUN FASTER, BY CHRISTIAN GUYTON
With support for Windows 7 gone
and Windows 8 bearing an ominous
expiration date (albeit one that is three
years from now), there’s never been a
better time to make the jump to Windows 10. For
our money, it’s the best operating system since the
Old Faithful that was XP Professional. Actually, if
you haven’t upgraded already, what’s holding you
back? The 10th iteration of Microsoft’s flagship OS
has been around for almost five years now.
If you’re already a card-carrying member of the
Windows 10 club, though, you probably want to
squeeze the absolute best out of your OS, whether
you’re using your computer for gaming, work, or
just a spot of Netflix and chill. There’s plenty of
ways to do this, mostly using tools that are built into
Windows 10; a huge selection of nifty functions,
apps, and settings to be tweaked to make for
the ultimate experience. It’s not just ease-of-use
stuff, either; if you’re a hardware head, Win  10
is a powerful tool for system optimization and
monitoring. Lots of things that might demand third-
48 | | April 2020
party software elsewhere can be done directly
in the OS, be that disk defragmenting, malware
eradication, or something else entirely.
Yes, it lacks the raw flexibility of Ubuntu or the
super-sleek interfaces of macOS Catalina, but the
fact remains that Windows 10 is the most popular
OS for home computers right now. We don’t think
it’s a stretch to claim that everyone reading this
has used Windows at some point. If you haven’t,
write to us with your life experiences, because they
sound interesting. Windows has permeated almost
every aspect of computing over the years, and in
2020, it’s no different.
Of course, it’s not perfect, but there’s
customisation aplenty; even the bad elements of
Win 10 can be adjusted, mitigated, or disabled
entirely. Annoyed that Cortana won’t leave you
alone? Frustrated with your CPU always running
hot due to background programs? Don’t worry,
we’re here to help. Over the next few pages, we
break down all the best tips for creating your ideal
OS experience, whatever you use your system for.
Advanced Windows 10
Make Windows fast

April 2020 | | 49
 typical PC usage. You can also block all apps from accessing
your camera and microphone on the Privacy page.

DISABLE STARTUP APPS

We’ve all been there, booting up our PC

03
to get a quick task completed, only to
be waylaid by Spotify, Steam, Uplay, and
Discord introducing themselves like the

GENERAL
worst barbershop quartet of all time. Windows has you
covered, though – the Startup page under App Settings
lets you view which apps are set to start up immediately

TIPS FOR
(albeit in the background) when you log in to Windows, and
also which ones have a higher impact on your boot times.
Toggle off any of these that you want to open manually,

WINDOWS
such as Spotify or OneDrive, and your system should start
up faster.

10
DISABLE BACKGROUND APPS
Keeping Windows up This one comes down to preference,

to date can feel like a
rather Sisyphean task
at times.
KEEP WINDOWS FULLY
UP TO DATE
04
and isn’t so necessary on more powerful
systems with plenty of memory and high-
speed storage. Under Privacy Settings, you
can individually select which apps you want to run in the
background, and disable the rest. There’s a ton of tools

01
Ah, the Windows Update. Truly the included with Windows 10 that you might use sometimes,
modern-day raven, rap-tap-tapping but don’t ever want running in the background. Windows
on Edgar Allen Poe’s operating system News? Disabled. Voice Recorder? Deactivated. Xbox
with menacing intent. Taking control of your updates is Console Companion? Begone!
objective number one for anyone trying to optimise their
PC, so jump into Settings and remember to smash that UNINSTALL UNWANTED
Check For Updates button. You can turn on auto-updates, APPLICATIONS

too, under Advanced options, but if you have a limited data
allowance we advise against this, and instead recommend
manual updates. You can also pause all updates for up to
two weeks; useful if you want to try something in a specific
version of Windows 10.
SHUT CORTANA UP
For the vast majority of users, Cortana is
05
Speaking of stuff included with Windows
10, there’s plenty of bloatware you can just
get rid of. The most obvious contender is of
course Candy Crush, but if you take a trip into App Settings
and scroll through the Apps & features list, you may find a
surprising amount of software you never use, and never
intend to use. Click on a program to view options, and
uninstall it from there. If you’re unsure what a piece of

02
little more than a frustration baked into software does, always look it up online before removing it.
the core of Windows 10. Annoying pop-
ups, constant data-gathering, and forced UPDATE DEVICE DRIVERS
Bing search (come on, Microsoft…) make Cortana the least Updating your drivers is often a handy

helpful voice assistant in the biz, but fortunately, shutting
her down is reasonably straightforward. Find the Cortana
page under Settings, then toggle all the sliders off. To
complete the process, head back out to the main Settings
menu. Under Privacy Settings, you’ll find Speech and
Inking and typing personalization. Turn both of these off
to cut down the amount of data Cortana gathers from your
06
fix for something not working with a PC,
but it’s a good idea to keep your device
drivers up to date whenever possible. To
check for updates, right-click the Start button and select
Device Manager, then right-click the device you want to
update the drivers on. You can also scan for new hardware
here; if you change something about your physical setup,

We’re sure a select

few of our readers
find Cortana helpful.
We do not.

Keep your
© MICROSOFT

background apps to
the bare minimum
whenever possible.

50 | | April 2020
 Advanced Windows 10
Make Windows faster

LAPTOP TIPS

If something isn’t working, check all of your drivers are up

to date in the Device Manager. Switching to Power Saver plan can be useful for prolonging battery life.

you might need to relocate it within the Device Manager Check your Just toggle off the slider marked Get

08
in order to update the drivers and ensure everything is power plan tips, tricks, and suggestions as you
working properly. It’s worth taking a peek use Windows.
at your power plans in
LOG IN FASTER the Control Panel on a laptop, found Manage your

10
The Windows 10 lock screen is a pointless under “Hardware and Sound.” If it’s temperatures better

07
innovation. Having to swipe up or hit the a powerhouse laptop that you’re As we said earlier,
spacebar before logging in slows things essentially using plugged-in as a it’s a good idea to
down a bit, and using a conventional desktop replacement, slap that use third-party software, such as
password is slower, too. high performance plan on and call HardwareMonitor, to keep an eye
First up, assign a PIN rather than a password for logging it a day; otherwise, you’ll want to on your system temperatures. This
in; four digits and no need to hit Enter, either. If your system take a trip into the advanced power is even more critical with laptops,
supports it, Windows Hello is pretty speedy, too. You can plan settings. The default balanced where keeping your CPU cool is an
even remove the lock screen altogether, going straight to plan is usually a good call, but even even more difficult endeavour. If
the login screen upon boot. then you might want to make some you’re regularly using demanding
Annoyingly, how you do this is different for Windows 10 adjustments; like disabling certain software on your laptop – 3D
Home and Windows 10 Pro. For Windows 10 Home edition, ports while the monitor is asleep, rendering tools, for example – then
you need to type “regedit” at the Run prompt ([Win] + [R]), for example. heat spikes are inevitable, but
make your way to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > there are a few things you can do
Policies > Microsoft and right-click Windows, select New > Disable tips to alleviate the temperature load

Key and call it “Personalization”. Once created, right-click
this key and add a new DWORD (32-bit) Value, with a name
of “NoLockScreen”. Double click this, and set the Value to
1. For Win 10 Pro, hit [Win] + [R], type “gpedit” and hit Enter.
Double-click Administrative Templates, double-click Control
Panel, click Personalization, then double-click Do not display
the lock screen, and click Enabled. Click Apply, and then OK.
Job done.
CREATE A RESTORE POINT AND
RESTORE YOUR SYSTEM
09
Windows 10 wants to
be helpful, but like a
bumbling manservant,
sometimes that help is actually less
than helpful. By default, Windows
10 scans your system periodically to
give you (usually unwanted) advice,
and this can have a small impact
on mobile processor performance,
particularly in cheaper laptops. You
can turn it off in System Settings,
on your poor laptop. The general
optimisation tips elsewhere in this
article are a good start, but making
sure you’re positioning your laptop
right is important, too. Don’t actually
put it on your lap, for starters. Ensure
that all the air vents are clear, and
only use it on hard, flat surfaces. If
you have problems with temperature,
consider using something to prop
your laptop up, creating more empty

11
If all hope is lost, returning to an earlier under Notifications and actions. space beneath it for better airflow.
save point is the best course of action. This
advice holds true for both videogames and
Windows 10, although hopefully you’ll never have to use
it. In the Control Panel, go through Security and System TRACK CPU USAGE AT ALL TIMES
> System > System Protection, and you’ll open up the There’s a handy function Task Manager has

window for System Restore options.
You can hit the big System Restore button to
revert your version of Windows to a saved restore
point; your PC should regularly create these by default,
but it saves over the previous one when it does so. Hit
Configure, and you can tweak your restore settings, or
create new restore points. This isn’t something you need to
do too often, but it’s worth having restore points for each
of your drives, just in case a new software or OS update
causes problems.
12
hidden in its box of tricks. When the Task
Manager window is open, you should see
a tiny square icon with a grid pattern in
the bottom-right corner of your screen, in the notification
area. It may be hidden in the expanded menu; just click the
arrow and drag it on to the taskbar if needed. That icon
is a microcosm of your CPU usage, showing a tiny graph
that indicates how much of your CPU is being utilised, and
placing your mouse over it shows exact percentages. To

April 2020 | | 51
keep it present when Task Manager isn’t open, select Hide
when minimized from the Task Manager’s Options drop-
down menu, then minimise the window.

CHECK FOR MALWARE

Of course, ideally you won’t have a single bit

13
of malware on your PC, but if you suspect
something is amiss (or you watched in
slow  motion from across the room as
your child clicked an extremely dubious link), Windows 10
can scan your system for viruses. Find the Windows Security
tab under Update & Security in Settings, and select Virus
& threat protection. From this menu, you can run quick
security scans on your system, or set up full scans that take
longer.
Windows Defender automatically scans your system for
malware periodically; you can tweak that in this menu, too,
check for security updates, and manually input exemptions
from Defender’s scans. That last point can be particularly
helpful for users who deal with a lot of unlicensed software
or shareware, but always err on the side of caution when it
comes to downloading new programs.

USE TASK MANAGER BETTER Task Manager has

Making the best use of Task Manager is evolved over the years, RAM impact of two different browsers, this is the place to

14
key to mastering control over Windows
10. First up, access it faster by right-
clicking the Start button and selecting
it; no need to Ctrl-Alt-Del here. You’re also going to want
to get rid of the simplified view by hitting More details to
expand to the full Task Manager experience. Here, you can
monitor component usage, view the full suite of active
becoming a powerful do it. You can end any task manually by right-clicking it, but
system-monitoring tool.
be careful – there are lots of background processes that are
vital to your system’s operation, so don’t shut off anything
you don’t recognize.
DISABLE RESUME APPS ON STARTUP
Another matter of preference, here we’ll

15
and background processes, and a whole lot more that you explain how to disable apps and browser
won’t need to fiddle with. What is useful here is the ability to Third-party antivirus tabs resuming upon booting up. If you
software can be a
check exactly how much pressure each program is putting hassle, but Windows use your system a lot and have numerous
on your CPU, GPU, memory and drives. If one background Defender is decent Chrome tabs you want to preserve, skip this step, but
app is chewing up CPU power, or you want to compare the and free. otherwise, take a trip into Settings > Accounts. Under Sign-

© MICROSOFT

52 | | April 2020
 Advanced Windows 10
Make Windows faster
in options, at the bottom of the page, there’s a slider for
reopening your apps ‘after an update or restart’. It tries to
resume the active programs you had running when you
last shut down your PC, potentially including non-essential
LOW-END SYSTEM TIPS
background processes, and that slows down your PC’s
boot time. Toggle it off.

FREE UP DRIVE SPACE

The less stuff on your drive, the better it

16
runs. This is more true of older hardware,
but can also affect modern SSDs to a
significant degree. Clearing up your
drive on a semi-regular basis is a good idea, as it can also
improve the drive’s effective lifespan. There are a few ways
to do this, which work best when done en masse.
First off, empty the recycle bin. It’s easy to forget about
that little trash can on your desktop, but emptying it
regularly is a good idea. Windows 10 also has a built-in disk
cleanup tool, found under Start > Windows Administrative
Tools. If you’ve recently upgraded to Windows 10, this is
worth doing; it can safely erase old system files. If you can,
move files to a cloud storage solution, such as Google Drive
or OneDrive – that can help, too!

CHECK YOUR SYSTEM HEALTH WITH

PERFORMANCE MONITOR

17
Another handy tool in Windows  10’s
repertoire is the Performance Monitor.
Activate it by typing “perfmon /report”
into the search bar (without the quotes) and give it a few Disabling search indexing in Windows is
minutes to gather system data. It then spits out a highly useful on older machines.
detailed interactive report; any major issues with system
files or processor loads should be highlighted immediately, Use ReadyBoost judge), it’s important to remember

21
and you can also check through a series of system checks Here, we’re going to
and a resource overview, which can identify if one part of specify tips that are only
your system is working overtime when it shouldn’t be. really useful for older or
super-budget systems with limited
TRACK YOUR TEMPERATURES hardware, such as HDDs instead
There is a multitude of third-party of SSDs, or less than 8GB of RAM.
to defrag that drive now and then,
lest long-term fragmentation ruins
your data. Fortunately, Windows 10
has a defrag tool built-in, although
it’s been shuffled around a few
times between version updates.

18
tools that can let you check your
system’s operating temperatures,
but our recommendation would be
CPUID’s HardwareMonitor app, available for free from
www.cpuid.com. Not only does it enable you to track in real
time the temperatures of all your PC’s components, but it also
shows you operating frequencies, voltages, fan speeds, and
more. It’s a great way to quickly check whether your system is
overheating or throttling elsewhere; if you see temps striking
above 70°C when your system is idling, it might be time to
ReadyBoost is a feature for such PCs,
and uses removable storage (typically
a USB flash drive or SD card with at
least 12GB of storage) to temporarily
cache data and speed up your system.
You can activate it by plugging in
an empty flash drive, right-clicking
the drive in File Explorer, and
selecting the ReadyBoost tab under
Properties. Select Dedicate this
Type “defrag” into the search bar,
open Defragment and Optimize
Drives, select your hard drive, and hit
Optimize. Depending on the size of
the drive and the degree of existing
fragmentation, it could take a while,
so leave this until last if you’re taking
some time to clean up your PC.
Disable Search Indexing

look into some cooling upgrades.
DISABLE SYNCHING
Windows 10 can be just a little too keen on
drive to ReadyBoost and reserve all
available space for caching.
We advise against using flash
drives with data stored on them
23
Windows 10’s search
function is great, but the
indexing process can be
fairly resource-intensive on older

19
syncing everything; whether that’s banal
things such as appearance themes, or
important stuff, such as passwords, search
history, and cloud data.
If you use Windows on numerous devices, this can be
helpful; otherwise, it just puts extra strain on your system,
and potentially poses a cybersecurity risk. You can shut
for this; while it shouldn’t be a
problem, it reduces the available
storage space for ReadyBoost to
use, and constantly caching files can
reduce the drive’s lifespan.
Run Defrag for HDDs
(or super-budget) systems. Access
the indexing menu by searching for
“indexing options” in the Control
Panel, click Modify, then click Show
all locations. If you want to fully
disable indexing, select everything
here, and click OK. This stops

22
off a number of these under Settings > Accounts > Sync If you’re still rocking Windows Search from indexing your
your settings, but you might also want to disable OneDrive an HDD in your system results, freeing up system resources
syncing too. To do this, you have to open up OneDrive and in 2020 (hey, we don’t to speed up your PC.
head into the settings, then select Unlink this PC under the
Account tab.
> System Properties there’s a link entitled Advanced
DISABLE VISUAL EFFECTS system settings. Hit the Performance Settings button on
This step does come down to personal this page to open up full customisation of all the visual

20
preference regarding aesthetics, but it can
also be useful if you’re running a system
with integrated graphics that needs to
keep things as simple as possible. Under Control Panel
effects in Windows 10. Hit Custom, and you can tweak to
your heart’s content; you probably won’t want to disable
everything, but there are some animations here that can
safely be turned off.

April 2020 | | 53
 OPTIMISE
WINDOWS
FOR
GAMING
BLOCK AUTO-UPDATES
Steam has plenty of
DISABLE HARDWARE ACCELERATION IN GAME LAUNCHERS

25
interesting beta tools that
ON MOUSE This is a must-have, particularly if you’re on a

24
are worth checking out.
If you’re a serious gamer, you’ve probably
done this already. Hardware acceleration
for computer mice smooths out the overall
pointer experience by making your cursor move further if
you move the physical mouse faster, but this can be ruinous
in first-person shooters, where snap movements to aim at a
target can overshoot their mark. Hop into the Control Panel
and select Hardware and Sound, then find your mouse
settings. Under Pointer Options, you can deselect Enhance
pointer precision – this is what Windows 10 calls in-OS
hardware acceleration. You can tweak baseline mouse
metered Internet connection. Steam is easy
enough; select Downloads under Steam
Settings, and toggle the settings to your heart’s content. In
particular, we advise unchecking Allow downloads during
gameplay if you play online games. Origin and Epic don’t have
quite the same array of choices, but do still allow for blocking
auto-updates; Epic even allows you to tweak update choices
on a per-game basis.
REVERT GAME VERSION
This is a somewhat niche tip, but it can be

26
sensitivity here, too, although we recommend doing that a lifesaver if an update tanks one of your
via the physical DPI controls on a gaming mouse. games. Steam has a beta feature – not
available in every game, but it’s easy to
check – that allows you to roll back your game version to
“Head to the manufacturer’s website a previous update. Right-click the game in your library,

and locate the most recent drivers” select Properties, and navigate to the Betas tab. From here,
you can opt in to older versions of the game in the drop-

REACH FOR YOUR WALLET

UPGRADE YOUR DRIVE MORE MEMORY MOVE BEYOND

31
SSD storage used to be
expensive, but nowadays
affordable SATA SSDs are
commonplace. Even smaller M.2 drives
(around 120GB) are quite cheap, with
models from reputable manufacturers
costing as little as £25. Using one of these
as a main OS drive guarantees faster boot
times, and there’s no need to get rid of your
old drives; they can become bulk storage
for files that don’t need to be rapidly
accessed. Note: Windows 10 takes up at
least 20GB,, so buying
y g a really
re y tinyy M.2 drive
isn’t a great plan.
32
If your system is running
slow, upgrading the RAM can
often provide that extra bit of
oomph it needs. It’s also one of the easiest
components to upgrade, especially if
your system has unused DIMM slots. For
modern systems, 8GB of memory should
be considered the absolute minimum
amount, with 16GB working perfectly well
for most tasks. If you use video-editing or
rendering software on the regular, though,
upgrading to 32GB or even 64GB might be
g
a good call.
33
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS
Rocking a new budget system
with integrated graphics is no
bad thing; modern APUs are great, and
with Intel’s 10th-gen Iris Plus chips headed
to desktop (eventually), integrated
graphics are in a pretty good place right
now. However, if you’re still rocking an
older dual-core APU, it might be time for
an upgrade. That could just mean jumping
up to a newer processor (such as AMD’s
excellent Ryzen 5 3400G), or it might
mean getting a GPU. Snap up a Radeon
R 550 for under 100 quid, or aim a little
RX
higher
h and snag something like an RX 570
o Nvidia’s trusty GTX 1050 Ti – neither
or
s
should break the bank, but will smash
in
ntegrated graphics on older APUs.

Upgraading to an NVME M.2 drive is

© MICROSOFT

ideal,, but SATA SSDs are still good.

| Ap
Apri
rilil 20
2020
20
 Advanced Windows 10
Make Windows faster
down menu, let the game update, and boom – you’re
running a previous update. It doesn’t work for most online
multiplayer games, of course; you need to be running the FAKE NEWS
WHAT NOT TO DO...
same version as everyone else.

DISABLE FOCUS ASSIST

This is the big one. Get rid of Focus Assist.

27
Have you ever been midway through
a high-stakes online match, only to be
yanked out of it as Windows tabs you back
to the desktop to inform you that you’ve received an email
from your co-worker? Yeah, that’s got to stop. Navigate to
Settings > System > Focus Assist and change it to Alarms
only – there’s no option to turn it off completely, but you
can also disable it during gameplay or screen sharing.
Lastly, you can deactivate the option to show you ‘what you
missed’ when you return to the desktop; an unnecessary
irritant, for our money.

KEEP YOUR GPU DRIVERS

UP TO DATE

28
Another potentially obvious tip for gamers
is to keep your GPU drivers up to date.
No, that doesn’t mean installing GeForce
Experience – the clutter-free way to do this is simply to
head to the manufacturer’s website and locate the most
recent drivers for your GPU. Both AMD and Nvidia have
handy search functions to help you find your exact GPU,
and what drivers it needs. Remember to select the ‘Game
Ready’ drivers if you’re using a newer Nvidia card, rather
than the ‘Studio’ version.

ENABLE GAME MODE

A simple change to make, although it isn’t While RAM discs sound cool, their applications are niche at best.

29
likely to improve game performance by
much on most systems is under Settings
> Gaming > Game mode. Make sure this DON’T DEFRAG AN SSD drive, and to reload the RAM disk

34
is toggled on, and your PC will manage temperature and Defragmentation
available memory better to (theoretically) improve frame software can be helpful,
rates in games. While we’re not sure it really boosts frame but only for older
rates, it does also block Windows Update from doing drives. If you have a SATA SSD or M.2
anything while you’re in-game. It’s possible that some NVMe drive, you don’t want to try
games see more stable framerates – perhaps Microsoft’s defragging it; there are no significant
own stuff, as Game Mode is an Xbox-branded tool. performance benefits (because SSDs
image back into your memory every
time you boot up your system,
which takes time. Unless you have
a staggering amount of memory
to spare, it just isn’t worth it.
DON’T TWEAK POWER

36
have no moving parts, there’s no PLANS ON DESKTOP
INSTALL DIRECTX 12 risk of mechanical latency building Simply put: There’s
You might already have DX12 installed, up over time), and the lengthy no point. If your PC is

30
but there’s an easy way to check if you do
have the latest version of the widely used
Microsoft API tool. Hit [Win] + [R] to open
the Run function, then type “dxdiag” (again, no quotes),
and hit [Enter]. This should bring up the DirectX Diagnostic
Tool. At the bottom of the page, it shows you which version
defragmentation processes can
actually wear out the memory cells
and ruin the drive’s lifespan if you do
it too many times. Just don’t bother.
RAM DISCS AREN’T
connected to mains power, set the
power plan to high performance and
call it a day. Some people will claim
that there are benefits to using
the other plans; we’re not saying
those people are wrong, but we

35
of DX you have installed. If DX12 isn’t installed, check THAT USEFUL are saying that any benefits will be
Windows Update! Also known as RAM practically unnoticeable.
drives, these nifty data
storage solutions use third-party DON’T REINSTALL

software to partition a given amount
of your memory to be used as data
storage instead of random-access
memory. The advantages jump out
immediately; RAM is a lot faster,
netting you vastly improved data
transfer speeds for your virtual drive.
If you’re moving files around a lot
and only have an HDD or SATA SSD,
it seems like a no-brainer. However,
RAM disks are volatile memory; if
your PC loses power, that data is
wiped. It’s necessary to have regular
automatic backups to your physical
37
WINDOWS YET
A complete fresh
install of Windows
(see p62) should be a last resort,
when other attempts to salvage
your system have failed. System
restore points are a more useful
resource, and it’s generally a good
idea to have both cloud-based and
physical backups of your data.
Reinstalling Windows is often like
bringing a broadsword to a knife
fight; effective, but far too much
effort and potentially messy.

April 2020 | | 55
 WINDOWS HELP HARDWARE FIXES SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS INTERNET TIPS

Windows month or so ago – if the search (Press [Win] + [R], type “regedit”
SEARCH BOX IS BLANK results haven’t magically and hit [Enter]) then browse to the
reappeared by now, check following Registry key:
Q The Windows Search box on
Do you have a the Taskbar is throwing up a Windows Update. If you’ve paused Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_
PC problem? blank screen no matter what I type updates, then you may need to USER\Software\Microsoft\
Get in touch… into it. I’ve tried restarting Windows manually download any Windows\CurrentVersion\Search
Email full details of your Explorer and my PC, but no dice. outstanding ones. With Search selected, choose Edit
problem to the Gordon Urquhart The issue is linked to a problem > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
support team and we’ll with Bing integration, and another Name it “BingSearchEnabled” and
do our best to help Ian’s solution workaround is to disable this to leave it set to 0. Also verify
windowsmagazine@ This was an issue restrict the Search tool to local files, “CortanaConsent” is set to 0 – if it’s
futurenet.com plaguing virtually all folders, programs and settings only. not, change it. Quit Registry Editor,
Windows 10 users a To do this, open Registry Editor open Task Manager and locate
Windows Explorer under
Performance. Right-click it and
choose Restart to bring the Search
box back to life.

Software
CAN’T OPEN MUS FILES
Q My brother’s old computer
died, taking with it some old
programs. He is left with several
MUS files which he needs to read. I
have a second PC which runs
Windows XP and I have found a
REGISTRY FIX DOS program that converts MUS
Resolve a blank
Search box
files to MID files (which we can
by editing read). But I’ve forgotten what
the Registry. commands I need to launch the

56 | | April 2020
 FIND THE SOLUTION! Problems with your Microsoft account?
Support
Visit https://support.microsoft.com/ hub/4294457/microsoft-
account-help if you need help with your Microsoft account. Technical help
MUS ACCESS
Install Finale Quickfire questions
Notepad to
open – and
convert – these Is there some magic way I
music files. can quickly disable all non-
essential services to speed
up video-editing tasks?
Gill Hubbins
Try Razer Cortex: Gaming
Booster (www.razer.com/
cortex/boost) – despite the
name, it’s perfect for any
resource-intensive process
like video editing.

Why does Notepad display text

as gibberish on one of my PCs?
Bill Stuart
Select Format > Font – it
sounds like the font has
somehow switched to Symbol
or a similar non-standard font.
Choose a different font to
resolve the problem.

program – can you help please?

Hamish Donaldson
Go for use with external drives. It
certainly ticks all his boxes, but the
“The cost of an upgrade
Cat’s solution
cost of an upgrade (£119) is
prohibitive and we don’t
to Windows 10 Pro
The MUS file format is
linked to the Finale
recommend purchasing a cheaper
licence from a third party.
(£119) is prohibitive”
musical notation family Luckily, there’s a similar – and Jargon buster!
of products, and if – as we hope completely free – solution in the
– those files predate 2012, then form of VeraCrypt (www.veracrypt. Booksonic
there’s a far simpler way to open fr/en), which we covered in depth An open-source streaming
and convert them to either MID or last issue. It’s simple to set up server: based on the Subsonic
MusicXML format for use in other – after installation, the Volume media server, it’s been specially
programs like MuseScore. That way Creation wizard will open. Select designed for audiobooks.
is with the free Finale Notepad 2012 Encrypt a non-system partition/
software, which runs on everything drive, and work through the wizard, In-place upgrade
from Windows XP onwards choosing Standard volume The procedure for updating
– download it for free from followed by your USB hard drive. DRIVE
ENCRYPTION Windows to a newer version
www.finalemusic.com/products/ Select Encrypt partition in place at VeraCrypt protects without removing the older
notepad/ (registration required). the next step, and your drive’s sensitive data on version first.
existing data will be encrypted external drives.
Security
EASILY ENCRYPT AN
EXTERNAL DRIVE
Q I’m running Windows 10
Home on a Dell XPS 8930 PC
with an external hard drive. What’s
the best software for encrypting all
the data on the external drive? It
needs to have auto-unlock, so I
don’t need to supply a password
every time I want to access the
drive, plus be easy to use and
reliable (I’m prepared to pay a
one-off fee).
Finally, will the software encrypt
all existing data on the drive, or will
I need to copy it off, format the
drive, set up encryption and then
copy it all back?
Mike Houghton

Mayank’s solution
Mike asked about
Windows 10 Pro, which
comes with BitLocker to

April 2020 | | 57

Quickfire questions
I really like OneDrive’s
files-on-demand feature. Is
it possible to get this
functionality in Google Drive?
Carl Young
Google offers a package
– Drive File Stream – that does
this, but only to organisations.
If you’re happy to pay a one-off
fee, then Mountain Duck ($39,
https://mountainduck.io/)
offers this functionality via its
Smart Synchronisation feature,
which works will all supported
accounts, including Google
Drive and Dropbox.
I’m trying to join multiple
CD tracks together in iTunes,
but the option doesn’t
appear when I click the
Settings button.
Kathrin Schneider
This happens when the
tracks aren’t sorted by number
– click the blank field heading
above the number 1 and the
option will return.
How do I delete a stored (but
now wrong) password for
logging on to my network?
Harry Johnson
Search for – and open
– Credential Manager. You’ll
find your stored network
password under Windows
Credentials. Click to expand
it to access options for
editing or removing the
saved credentials.
SEARCH AND REPLACE
ACROSS MULTIPLE FILES
Q I’ve moved my media folder,
and now none of my playlists
work because they’re pointing to
the old folder. Is there a way to
perform a search and replace across
all my playlist files at once?
Kevin Wilson
Cat’s solution
It’s possible to do this
via the command
prompt, Kevin, but
we’ve found a free tool that can
makes the job much easier – the
step-by-step guide reveals how
to use it.
58 | | April 2020
without forcing you to move it off
and format the drive first (that said,
always take an unencrypted image
of the drive before you begin – just
in case something goes wrong).
After encryption, you’ll be
prompted to mount the drive by
supplying your password and any
other credentials – a step you’ll
need to perform each time you
start Windows (you can instruct
VeraCrypt to prompt you to do this
automatically on system startup). If
you want to access the drive from
another computer, you’d need
VeraCrypt either installed on that
PC or running in portable mode
from a USB flash drive.
Audiobooks
SPEED UP BOOKSONIC
MANAGEMENT
Q I’ve set up a Booksonic
audiobook server as per your
feature in issue 170, and it works
well, but for one specific niggle. I
know I can add separate desc.txt
and reader.txt files to populate
the description and narrator
fields in the library, but is there
a quicker way to do this? I’ve
got rather a large audiobook
library to work through!
Alice Orwell
Nick P’s solution
You’ll be pleased to
learn that your needs
were anticipated.
Download and install the
Booksonic Library Editor (https://
github.com/galacticat/booksonic-
library-editor/), then launch
the program and switch to the
Configure tab to select your
parent Audiobooks folder. Click
Save, then switch back to the
Books tab and click Refresh Library.
Use the Library path pane to
navigate to a specific audiobook
folder where you’ll see its title
1 Download, extract, run
Go to http://findandreplace.io/ – click
the hamburger (three lines) button at the
top and choose Download > FnR Zip
Download. Once downloaded, right-click
fnr.zip and choose ‘Extract All’ to extract the
portable program.
ADD METADATA appear in the right-hand (don’t
Booksonic Library
Editor is a
worry if there’s no book cover – it’ll
must-have add-on
only show if it’s stored in the folder
for audiobook as a separate cover.jpg file as
libraries. opposed to being embedded into
each MP3 file using MP3tag).
Simply type (or copy and paste
from a site like www.goodreads.
com) your narrator and synopsis
into the appropriate fields, then
click Save to have the program
generate the required text files
for you. Move on to the next
audiobook and the changes
will show up the next time you
navigate to that book in Booksonic.
Windows
CAN’T UPDATE TO 1909
Q I’ve tried at least six times
to update to Windows 10
version 1909 [aka the November
2019 Update]. It’ll download and
install, but after restarting only
gets 50 percent of the way through
before my laptop shuts down
completely and won’t restart. When
I restart, it undoes all changes and
reverts to the previous version.
Have you any thoughts on this?
John Sweeney
2 Set target files
Double-click fnr.exe to launch the
program. It can work across all the files in a
single directory, so click ‘…’ next to Dir to
select this, then choose whether to include
sub-folders and set up file masks to target
specific file types.

Ian’s solution
Without knowing your
laptop’s precise make
and model, we can’t
determine if this is hardware-
related or not. It’s worth checking
your laptop manufacturer’s
support pages to see if there are
any known issues with the 1909
update or – failing that – driver
updates that might help push the
update over the line. Also try
Googling your laptop make and
model along with ‘1909’ to see if
any other owners have had
problems with the update.
You might also want to perform
some basic maintenance checks
– open the Command Prompt as
an administrator and perform a
full check of your system drive by
typing the following command:
“chkdsk c: /f /r”.
You’ll be prompted to perform
the disk check the next time you
restart Windows, so press Y, then
close the window and restart
your PC to perform the check. If
errors are found and fixed, try
the update again.
You could try an in-place
upgrade (the equivalent of a repair
installation) following the detailed
guide at www.tenforums.com/
tutorials/16397-repair-install-
windows-10-place-upgrade.html
(follow step 6 of the process).
If this fails, then we’d recommend
biting the bullet and following our
guides to backing up before wiping
your drive and installing Windows
10 version 1909 from scratch. See
page 62 for more.
regular touchpads. I have an
older HP laptop with a Synaptics
touchpad, but it doesn’t show up
as precision under ‘Settings >
Devices > Touchpad’. Can I still
use this feature?
Diana Ruell
Dan’s solution
Most Synaptics
touchpads – even
older ones – can
be made to support precision
features, with noticeably
improved responsiveness (we
tested this successfully on a HP
Pavilion G series laptop). There is
a small risk that the driver may
break, so have a USB mouse on
standby to roll it back via Device
Manager if necessary.
First, download the driver
you need from Lenovo (https://
download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/
Support
Technical help
mobiles/n1mgx14w.zip). Extract
the contents of the file to its
own folder.
Next, right-click the Start button
and choose Device Manager. Do you have
Expand Mice and other pointing a PC problem?
devices, right-click your existing Get in touch…
touchpad entry, and choose Email full details of
Update driver. Select Browse your problem to the
my computer for driver software support team and we’ll
followed by Let me pick from a do our best to help:
list of available drivers on my windowsmagazine@
computer. Click Have Disk, and futurenet.com
browse to the folder containing Or write to the support
your downloaded driver. Select team and we’ll do
Synaptics Pointing Device from our best to help:
the list, and click Next followed Support Squad,
by Yes at the warning. Windows Help &
Once installed, reboot and Advice magazine,
return to Settings > Devices > Future Publishing Ltd,
Touchpad where you should Quay House, The
now find it’s been recognised as Ambury, Bath
BA1 1AU
a precision touchpad, revealing
more settings for you to customise.
TOUCHPAD
UPGRADE Update
your driver
to support
precision gestures.

Hardware
GAIN MORE
TOUCHPAD GESTURES “Most Synaptics touchpads – even older
Q I’ve stumbled across a
reference to precision
touchpads, which appear to
ones – can support precision features,
support more gestures than with noticeably improved responsiveness”

Jargon buster!
BitLocker
Microsoft’s built-in drive
encryption tool that works
with both internal and external
drives. It’s only found in
Professional and Enterprise
editions of Windows.

3 Search for text
Enter the text you’re looking to
replace in the Find box – use the boxes
beneath it to fine-tune your selection if
necessary (‘Case sensitive’ is the most likely
candidate). Click ‘Find Only’ and a list of
matching files should appear.
4 Replace text
Click one of the results to see where
the text appears within it. If you’re happy
it’s the text you’re looking to change, type
your replacement text into the Replace
box. Click Replace to replace the text in
each matched file.
Files On-demand
Part of OneDrive, this allows
users to save space on their
hard drive by storing shortcuts
to files stored in the cloud
rather than the complete file.

April 2020 | | 59
 GET OUR
DIGITAL EDITION!

TWO
FREE
ISSUES
W HEN YOU
SUBSCRIB
E
TODAY*
MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION:
£1.99 – SAVE 38%
SINGLE ISSUE: £2.49

AVAILABLE ON YOUR DEVICE NOW

(READ ON YOUR PC AT ZINIO.COM OR PLAY.GOOGLE.COM)

*Free issues not available on Zinio.

 :ɰOFʝȷɏ
ɏWɛ

WINDOWS 10 TIPS
Windows 10
FEATURES EXPLAINED NEW TIPS AND TRICKS

Welcome )HDʤʦʢʖQɒ
There’s a new 62 Reinstall Windows 66 How to refresh 68 Avoid having to
Windows build the right way your Windows PC reinstall Windows
available for Fast
Ring Insiders,
bringing a new
calendar app along with
the latest bug fixes.
It’s always worth installing the
latest security and cumulative
updates – the benefits
outweigh any dangers, and
problem updates can be rolled
back. Big feature updates aren’t
to be feared either, even if they
can take a while to download.
On p62 we find out how to
reinstall Windows 10 from
scratch, while on p66 we look
at the options for resetting and
refreshing your PC. Finally, p68
explores how to fix problems
and avoid a reinstall.
SPEED
UP
Matt Hanson YOUR PC
Associate Editor SEE PAGE 48
www.facebook.com/windowsmag

Windows 10 tip of the month Take better screenshots

Master Snip & Sketch

There are eight different ways to take
screenshots in Windows 10, but only
really three that you need to know
Image credits: Microsoft

about. We take lots of screenshots here

at Windows Help & Advice, and the
move from the old Snipping Tool to the
new Snip & Sketch app was not taken
well by some users. The app is slightly
too complicated for its simple needs,
but there are easier ways to snap the SIMPLE SNAP Pressing [Win] + [Print Screen] saves a SNIP & SKETCH [Win] + [Shift] + [S] opens a bar offering
contents of your screen. shot to a Screenshots folder inside your Pictures folder. fullscreen, active window, and selection screenshots.

April 2020 | | 61
7ʕʖQJɡWɛFʝQʣLȫ ʑ ɠ
BEFORE YOU
REINSTALL WINDOWS
Keep lists of installed programs, and their activation keys, to rapidly
make your old PC feel like new again
Reinstalling Windows 10 is a fairly
trivial task. Put in the right media,
boot from it, grind away the old OS,
and replace it with the pristine bits of
a shiny new install. This can be a
painless, if time-consuming,
procedure that leaves you with a
like-new PC, or perhaps an even
better one if you were unlucky
enough to buy a PC burdened with
preinstalled trashware.
Before you do this, make sure
you’ve checked off a few
prerequisites, all of which are good
practice even if you’re not planning
to wipe everything and start again.
First, keep a record of your product
key (if you have one – most likely if
you’ve upgraded from a previous
version of Windows), or make sure
your digital licence is well looked
after. If you’ve bought a PC in the last
few years, you’re probably using a
“Dig out the product keys for all your
crucial software and keep them safe,
as you’ll need to reinstall that too”
Microsoft is happy to dole out the code for Windows 10, but you’ll need a proper licence if you want to use it fully.
62 | | April 2020
digital licence rather than a key.
Check Settings > Update & Security >
Activation. If you see the message
“Windows is activated with a digital
licence,” this means you’re digitally
signed, but you should link that
license to your Microsoft account in
case of installation issues or future
hardware changes. Head to Settings
> Accounts > Your Info, sign in with
your Microsoft account details, and
the message should change to
“Windows is activated with a digital
licence associated with your
Microsoft account.”
Key information
Next, dig out the keys for all your
crucial software and keep them safe
too, as you’ll need to reinstate
everything manually when
performing a full reinstall. You can
use PowerShell to make a list of
your installed programs; run it
as administrator, and type: Get-
ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\
Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-
Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion,
Publisher, InstallDate | Format-Table
–AutoSize > C:\software.txt
A list is created as a file called
software.txt in the root of your C
drive. Tweak if you want a different
file name or location. Keep a copy of
this elsewhere, in case you come to
your reinstalled machine and realise
there’s something you’ve forgotten.
If you want to make your job easier,
ProduKey (http://nirsoft.net) can dig
up keys for many Microsoft apps and
Windows; also consider using a
lockable password manager, such as
LastPass (www.lastpass.com), to not
only keep a record of logins, but to
store details about your software so
it’s always there when you need it.
You can’t back up programs
(Windows’ file structure doesn’t work
like that), but you can (and should)
back up every other little thing.
Backing up your hard drive using
IMAGES © Microsoft
 Basics
Things to consider before you reinstall Windows

Ensure your licence key is properly linked to your Microsoft account File History isn’t just about keeping versions – it’s about keeping
before you begin reinstalling Windows. everything, and can be a real lifesaver.

something like Macrium Reflect might

seem like a solid idea, and it’s the
best way to make sure you don’t miss
anything, but a compressed copy
Multibooting Windows 10
won’t give you access to the files you One of the factors that contributes to our pessimism surrounding reinstalling
need once it’s made, and it’s pointless Windows is that we desperately don’t want you to lose anything. We’re kind like
if you’re reinstalling to fix a broken that. But there is another, slightly frivolous way to do a reinstallation if you’ve got
system – instead, consider Windows working hardware to play with: you can turn one Windows installation into two. If
File History to perform rolling you have a second drive that is able to support a Windows 10 installation, or enough
backups of crucial folders as you use access to your current Windows 10 installation (and enough free space) to be able to
your machine. It’s slow to start, but if trim down its drive using Disk Management then create a new clean partition, you
this is something you set up to run FDQLQVWDOODVHFRQGFRS\RIWKHRSHUDWLQJV\VWHPDORQJVLGHWKHÀUVW6LPSO\VHOHFWD
invisibly as you use your PC (and, custom install, and then point Windows 10 at that spare disk space – it should do
ideally, back up to different hardware the rest for you.
periodically), you always have a It’s questionable whether you’d technically need a second Windows licence to do
backup ready when you need one. this – you can only possibly use one instance of Windows 10 at a time if installed this
Try to include driver installation files way, so it shouldn’t be an issue, but the Microsoft EULA does suggest that only one
in your personal folders, to be caught instance is allowed to exist. Take that as you will. You’ll likely need to switch off
by File History – and consider creating BitLocker before partitioning your drive, and if you use Windows in this way, you’ll
a second, manual backup of all of ZDQWWRGRWKLVDQ\ZD\VLQFHDQXQORFNHGÀOHV\VWHPRQ\RXURULJLQDOLQVWDOOFDQEH
your important files. Check them easily accessed on your new one. Copy everything to a safe new location, make sure
both for integrity before you pull you’ve got everything, and you can ditch the original install – and if you’re likely to
the trigger. use the new installation as your main copy of Windows, you’ll need to make sure it’s
One last consideration: DRM. It’s a ÀUVWLQWKHERRWRUGHU,WVKRXOGEHE\GHIDXOWEXW\RXPD\QHHGWRSRNHDURXQGLQ
menace, but never more so than \RXU%,268(),VHWWLQJVWRVHOHFWWKHFRUUHFWGULYHRUVHWLWWKURXJKWKH$GYDQFHG
when you have a bunch of DRMed V\VWHPVHWWLQJVOLQNIURPWKH&RQWURO3DQHO·V6\VWHPWDE
files that are tied to an account that
limits PC authorizations. Kill your
current install, and you might not be
able to get that authorisation back
– you could even lose access to all
the things you’ve bought; DRM is
cruel like that. So, make sure any
management app, such as iTunes, has
been de-authorized before you leave
your current install behind.
Installation art
With all this done, go ahead and
reinstall. You can create your own
installation media by heading to
www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-
download/windows10 and using the
media creation tool to put the latest
update of Windows 10 on a USB stick
ready for installation. Over the page,
we show you everything you need to
reinstall your operating system, but
a couple of notes first: You’ll want to
select Install Windows Only, because
the Upgrade option will leave your
PC basically as it was; and you can
skip inserting a product key – you
can do this later, or your PC will Just select the correct partition and install away. But make sure it
activate itself when you sign in definitely is the correct one before you start.
to your Microsoft account.

April 2020 | | 63
 REINSTALL
WINDOWS 10
Create brand new installation media and then reinstall the latest
version of Windows 10 from scratch on your hard drive
T
he act of reinstalling If you’ve not yet done so, visit choose Create installation media…
Windows 10 can feel www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software- and follow the prompts (use
daunting. Never fear: download/windows10 and click recommended options when asked)
we’re going to step you through Download tool now to download to create your flash drive or generate
the entire process from booting and run the Media Creation Tool. an ISO file. If you choose the ISO file
from your Windows installation Insert a blank DVD, or plug in an option, click Open DVD burner at the
media to running carefully unused USB flash drive (8GB or end to write it to your blank DVD.
through the post-install larger). After launching the tool, Once your installation media has
setup options. accept the licence terms, then been created, read on.

Ƶ85 %NJ67 ƼǏ3

,ɑ ʖɚ GʝʅEɢ ɪEʝXɢ ʠʢʖYDʎɨ
ȿHWʤʖQJɡ ʑʢɠ ʝɚ ʃȱɏ ʣLȫɏ Rɑ
FʋXʤLʝɚ – \ʝɤ Fʋɚ ɪʙZʋ\ɡ
ȾɏʑQɪɬȵɏ ȯHDʤʦȾHɡ ODɀʑɠ

Step-by-step 6WHSE\VWHS LQVWDOO :LQGRZV 

1 Boot from installation media 2 First steps

IMAGES © Microsoft

Insert or plug in your Windows installation drive (choose a
USB 3.0 port for your USB flash drive for maximum performance)
and then start or reboot your PC. If it doesn’t automatically start
the installation process, reboot again, but this time look for a
message about choosing a boot device (typically the F11 or F12
key). Tap this, then choose your DVD or USB drive to boot from it.
At the first screen, verify that the language, time and
currency format and keyboard are all set to the correct location,
such as English (United Kingdom). Click Next, followed by Install
Now. When the Activate Windows box appears, click ‘I don’t have a
product key’ unless you’re using a local account rather than a
Microsoft one, in which case enter the product key and click Next.

64 | | April 2020

3 Choose installation type
Select your edition of Windows 10 (typically Home or Pro,
not Home N or Pro N) and click Next. Tick to accept the licence
terms and click Next again. Choose the Custom: Install Windows
only (advanced) option. At the next screen you’ll see your current
drives and partition layout. Be sure to identify the correct
partition containing your current Windows installation.
5 Basic setup
Once the ‘Installing Windows’ phase is complete, your PC
will reboot. Step one is to confirm the region and keyboard layout
are both correct – it should be the same as you selected in step
two. Click Yes to confirm each, followed by Skip to avoid adding a
second keyboard layout. If you’re connecting wirelessly, you’ll
next be prompted to select and connect to your Wi-Fi network.
7 Set up PIN
After signing in, click ‘Create PIN’ to simplify future sign-ins
with a numerical code rather than your password. Click OK. You’ll
be asked to switch on activity history – click Yes only if you use
Windows on more than one device. You’ll then be given the
opportunity to link your Android or iPhone to your PC via the
Continue on PC app. Click Next to move on.
Windows 1
Reinstall Window
4 Set up drives, copy files
If you click Next now, Windows should detect your existing
installation and offer to move it to a Windows.old folder;
assuming you’ve backed everything up beforehand, a better
option is to select the partition and click Format to wipe it (after
acknowledging the warning), then click Next. Windows will move
on to the file copying and installation stage. Sit back and relax.
6 Choose account type
Most people will want to choose ‘Set up for personal use’
when prompted, so select it and click Next. You’ll now be
prompted to sign in with your Microsoft Account – the same
one you previously used for Windows on this PC. If you entered
a product key and don’t use a Microsoft Account, click Offline
Account followed by No to create a local one instead.
8 Manage privacy settings
Next, if you want to prevent OneDrive from becoming
your default save location, click ‘Only save files to this PC’. The
rest of the wizard will allow you to choose whether to use
Cortana, online speech recognition and various other privacy
related features. Read each one carefully before selecting your
choice to complete the post-install setup process.
April 2020 | | 65
REFRESH, RESTART,
RECYCLE, REINSTALL
Confused by whether to refresh, reset or reinstall? Windows 10
has multiple options, and they’re changing all the time
Aaah, a fresh start. What could be better?
Not losing all the software you’ve
installed over the years, that’s what.
If you’ve gone to the trouble of
creating new installation media for
any version of Windows 10 past the
Creators Update, you’ll probably feel
a bit silly when you discover that
Microsoft tucked a ‘fresh start’
option into its later Win 10 editions.
Using it takes any Windows 10
installation back to the basics of a
Windows install, even removing
any preinstalled software your
manufacturer might have included,
and stripping away all your drivers
– and it doesn’t require any special
media. It’s basically a clean install
without you having to directly
perform the actions of reinstallation.
You’ll find it in a corner of Windows
Defender Security Centre, aka
Windows Security – select Device
66 | | April 2020
performance and & health, then
Additional info, before clicking Get
started to begin. Again, make sure
you’re backed up, as this is only
slightly less destructive than
formatting your hard drive. Handily,
the fresh start procedure leaves a
little note of all the things you’ve
destroyed on your desktop, just so
you can kick yourself later.
Press reset
A better option might be to take
advantage of Windows 10’s ‘reset’
“Windows 10’s ‘reset’ feature strips out
all installed applications and drivers
while leaving personal files intact”
feature, which strips out all of your
installed applications and drivers
while giving you the option of
leaving personal files unmolested.
This doesn’t mean you can get away
with not using proper backup
procedures, but if there’s a particular
software component causing you
problems, this will very likely get rid
of it. Put simply, it rolls your machine
back to the state in which it came to
you: preinstalled software, drivers,
and all. You might remember that
earlier editions included two options,
IMAGES © Microsoft

Choosing the Reset option enables you to immediately select whether to
keep your files or not. Your apps are toast either way.
the confusingly different ‘reset’
and ‘refresh’ – they’re squashed
together into this new, less baffling
procedure. It does, technically,
create a fresh installation of
Windows, rather than uninstalling
anything, as while it’s running
through, it uses the Windows
Recovery Environment and sections
off your personal files, putting them
back where they were if you choose
to keep them.
If you’re insistent on reinstalling,
perhaps you’d like to consider an
upgrade? Not a version upgrade as
such, but an in-place upgrade install
Basics
Refresh, restart, recycle, restore
The holy trinity of system spying: Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and Event
Log. You can add to these with thirdparty applications too.
Building better backups
Reinstalling is, or should be, a last resort – and if you ever come to the point where
\RXDEVROXWHO\KDYHWRUHLQVWDOO:LQGRZVDQGGRQ·WKDYHFRSLHVRI\RXUÀOHVLW
might be too late. A hardware failure, a cryptographic malware attack, whatever the
case may be, you don’t want to be left stranded. We’ve talked about using Windows’
)LOH+LVWRU\WRROVHOVHZKHUHZKLFKLVDJRRGZD\WRNHHSUHJXODUFRSLHVRI\RXU
SHUVRQDOÀOHVEXW:LQGRZVDOVRLQFOXGHVDPRUHWKRURXJKEDFNXSSURFHGXUHLQWKH
form of Backup and Restore (Windows 7). Now, we can’t be entirely sure how long
this is going to last, given its archaic name, but for now, it works, and we’d wager
that Microsoft will supply a tool to restore its backups even if the facility gets
removed from future versions of the operating system.
If you have a backup on an external drive, you can reinstall Windows from scratch
and restore it using the same tool – aim to make one every week or so, so you don’t
– running through the Windows 10 ORVHWRRPXFKWLPH(DVH867RGR%DFNXS)UHHZZZHDVHXVFRPLVDGHFHQW
install process, throwing fresh copies option for automating backups; make sure, if you do this, that you don’t leave your
of all critical system files on to your backup drive permanently connected to your machine, because a hardware failure
PC, but leaving everything else, passed down the line is a double whammy of disappointment.
including software, as is. Do not discount the power of system restore points, either. While they’re not kind
Opting to do this can (in theory) to storage – ZH·GSXWWKHPRQ\RXUPHFKDQLFDOORQJWHUPVWRUDJHGULYHUDWKHUWKDQ
fix certain issues with your machine, DQ66'LI\RXKDYHWKHFKRLFH – making a system restore point regularly is good
and it’s particularly effective against practice. Taking the overkill position of making one before installing anything even
those problems that standard slightly questionable is an even better thing to do, although we don’t really expect
Windows prodding techniques you to do that. Make sure you clean up when you’re sure your machine is running
don’t solve. To perform an in-place ÀQHEHFDXVHDKXJHKRDUGRIV\VWHPUHVWRUHSRLQWVGRHVQRERG\DQ\JRRG
upgrade, you need to be logged
into an administrative account,
have a good chunk of disk space
free, and have secure boot switched
off (at least temporarily) in your
UEFI settings.
Use the Windows 10 Media
Creation tool (see above) to create
a USB stick, but don’t boot from it:
Open the drive from within Explorer,
right-click the setup.exe file, and
opt to run it with administrator
privileges. Run through the install
process, ensuring you check the
box to keep all your files and apps.
When done, you’re left with your
new, fresh Windows folder and a
separate Windows.old folder on
your main drive, the latter of which
contains your previous install. It’s
possible to roll back, if everything
has fallen apart, but don’t take this
as an excuse not to have a proper
backup. When happy (you have 10
days to decide), you can dump the
It’s an older tool, sir, but it checks out. Backup and Restore has been with
Windows.old folder and reclaim that us for a long time, but does things File History doesn’t.
precious space.

April 2020 | | 67
THE POWER
OF ELBOW GREASE
:K\¾[LQJSUREOHPVDV\RXJRDQGPRQLWRULQJZKDW\RXU3&
is doing, can be better than a full operating system reinstall
Many people look at a Windows
reinstallation as a way to fix any
and all ills. However, we consider
it as being more of a last resort. It’s
a little like dealing with unruly
children. Before taking drastic
action and shipping your PC off
to military school, you should
really do everything you possibly
can to fix the problems you’ve
got, and find out the cause of its
misbehaviour, because you might
just find that a simple solution works
better. Heavy-handed metaphor
“Keeping an eye on your PC’s actions
isn’t particularly difficult, Windows 10
includes all the tools you might need”
aside, keeping a keen eye on your
PC’s actions isn’t particularly difficult,
because Windows 10 includes all the
tools you might need at your
disposal: There’s the Task Manager
(which you can pull up at any time
with a quick [Ctrl] + [Shift] +
[Escape]); there’s Resource Monitor
(type “resmon” into the search bar)
for a more detailed report on what’s
doing what; and there’s even the
difficult-to-grok but absolutely useful
Event Viewer, which can throw up
some worrying but utterly benign
messages, but also reveal the true
cause of system crashes
or slowdowns.
Clean living
It is worth keeping your system
clean, not in terms of hard drive
space (unless you’re critically full, in
which case, you should definitely
start scrubbing), but in terms of the
number of things that are installed on
your system, how up to date they are,
and how many of them you allow to
just run whenever they like and eat
up your system resources in the
process. In terms of the latter, the Task
Manager startup tab can give you
some clues, not just about those
auto-running apps, but also about the
impact they tend to have on your

IMAGES © Microsoft

Task Manager can help squash auto-running programs, but Autoruns can do a whole lot more.

68 | | April 2020

Head to Settings > Apps and Features to check what’s installed on
your PC, and when you last used it.
startup process, and you can also use
it to disable their automatic execution.
If you want to get more involved with
what happens at startup, Autoruns
Go virtual instead
(https://download.sysinternals.com/
files/Autoruns.zip) gives you much
more granular and deep control,
although you should treat it with
kid gloves, because heavy-handed
tinkering could potentially cause
more problems than it solves.
So, what’s the best way to deal with
old, unwanted apps? To completely
expunge them from your system, of
course. There’s nothing wrong with
Windows’ built-in uninstallation
procedures. You can flit through your
Basics
)L[SUREOHPVDV\RXJR
Uninstaller apps such as Iobit Uninstaller (above) or CCleaner can remove the
dregs left behind by apps, and even remove built-in space-hoggers too.
We’re at the point in the PC’s evolution where the overheads of virtualisation
are proportionately so small, and the technology enabling it so plentiful, that
UXQQLQJDQHYHU\GD\26LQDYLUWXDOPDFKLQHLVHQWLUHO\UHDVRQDEOH<RX
obviously won’t get 100 percent of bare metal performance from a virtualised
instance of Windows 10, but it has a host of advantages. When you’ve got a
system running just as you like it, you can take a snapshot, then quickly return
to it at any point in the future. You can whip up a fresh copy of Windows in
PLQXWHVZLWKRXWDQ\ULVNWR\RXUH[LVWLQJLQVWDOO<RXFDQÀUHXSRWKHURSHUDWLQJ
systems, and run them simultaneously on the same machine. If you’re the kind
of person who loves to settle down to a good Windows reinstall in the evening,
then you’re probably the right candidate for running a virtualized system.
WHFRXOGÀOODQHQWLUHLVVXHRIthis magazine with ways to do it, but if you’re
willing to experiment, here’s a broad framework that’s a good place to start.
Start menu, right-clicking things that 8VH)HGRUD:RUNVWDWLRQDV\RXUKRVW26KWWSVJHWIHGRUDRUJHQZRUNVWDWLRQ
shouldn’t be there, and using the DQGXVHWKHLQFOXGHG%R[HVDSSDIURQWHQGIRU.904(08WRJHW\RXU90V
Uninstall option to get rid of them. up and running. Install VirtIO to ensure that all of the IO functions work
Or you could use the Apps & Features SURSHUO\DQG63,&(WRGHDOZLWK'DFFHOHUDWLRQ$QGPDNHVXUH\RX·YH
tool, accessible from Windows’ DFFHVVHG\RXU%,268(),VHWWLQJVDQGHQDEOHGDOOWKHJRRGVWXIIWKDWPDNHV
settings panel, which (sometimes) VMs work well – VSHFLÀFDOO\,QWHO97RU$0'9GHSHQGLQJRQ\RXUSODWIRUP
offers up a bit more detailed II\RXIDQF\DFKDOOHQJHERWK90:DUH(6;LDQG0LFURVRIW+\SHU96HUYHUDUH
information about when a program SURJUDGHEDUHPHWDOK\SHUYLVRUVZKLFKSXWDPLQLPDOOD\HUEHWZHHQ\RXU
was installed, and when you last guest26DQGWKHKDUGZDUHWKH\·UHZRUNLQJZLWKEXWWKH\GRUHTXLUHVRPH
deemed it important enough to run. SURJUDGHXQGHUVWDQGLQJWRJHWWKHPRVWRXWRIWKHPVRDUHEH\RQGWKHVFRSH
That usually works just fine. But if of this feature.
you’d like some more reassurance that
a troublesome app is really gone, and
with it any trace of its existence (we’re
well aware that revenge is usually a
big contributor to any uninstallation
process), something like the free
version of IoBit Uninstaller 8
(www.iobit.com) can work wonders.
It makes software removal quick and
straightforward, and it hunts for
absolutely every file associated with
the app that’s on death row.
We wouldn’t opt for the paid-for
Pro version, even though it adds extra
tools for stripping away manufacturer
bloatware, because apps such as PC
Decrapifier (www.pcdecrapifier.com)
do the job just fine without any
outlay. It might be tempting to try
out CCleaner (www.ccleaner.com),
too, given that it can even get rid of
Microsoft’s default apps, and we’re
not going to stop you – but it’s
worth pointing out that CCleaner
can be very annoying in terms of If you have Windows 10 Pro installed on your machine,
notifications. If we do use it, it’s you have access to some form of Hyper-V already.
generally immediately removed
once the task is complete. Q

April 2020 | | 69
TERMS AND CONDITIONS Prices and savings quoted are compared to buying full priced UK print and digital
issues. You will receive 13 issues in a year. You can write to us or call us to cancel your subscription within 14
days of purchase. Your subscription is for the minimum term specified and will expire at the end of the current
term. Payment is non-refundable after the 14-day cancellation period unless exceptional circumstances apply.
Your statutory rights are not affected. Prices correct at point of print and subject to change.
Offer ends April 30 2020. For full terms and conditions please visit bit.ly/magtandc.

INTERNATIONAL
READERS CAN
SUBSCRIBE TOO!
Don’t wait for the latest issue to
reach your local store – subscribe
today and let Windows Help &
Advice come straight to you

WHY SUBSCRIBE?
• Stop paying overseas cover
prices and save yourself money
• Never miss another issue
• All 13 issues a year will be delivered direct
to your home or workplace by airmail

TO SUBSCRIBE
• Live in Europe?
Pay just €31 every 3 months
• Live in the USA?
Pay just $43 every 3 months
• Live elsewhere?
Pay just $45 every 3 months

TO SUBSCRIBE GO TO
myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/subwha
Or call our helpline on (+44) (0)344 848 2852
Helpline opening times are: 8am to 9.30pm weekdays, 8am to 4pm on Saturdays (BST)
 NEW HARDWARE ESSENTIAL ACCESSORIES LATEST GADGETS

Welcome This issue’s highlights

The rise of the
2-in-1 laptop
has been a
fascinating one
to watch
From the earliest attempts
at handwriting recognition
on Windows XP, to the
emergence of the tablet as a
workable form factor, and
the need to be seen as 78 Razer Blade Stealth 13 80 Acer ConceptD 7
neither a laptop with a Lightweight, stylish and powerful; a true A portable workstation packed with
touchscreen nor a tablet with ultrabook that’s now available in white. the latest in mobile technology.
a keyboard, but something
new and separate, they’ve
never quite hit the heights
they promised.
Now, with Intel’s 10th-gen
CPUs and their improved
graphics processing, could
this be the year of the
hybrid? Our group test on
p72 attempts to find out.
84 Motorola Razr 86 Best big 4K monitors
Nick Odantzis Deputy Editor Here at last, the greatest flip phone of If you want to splash out on an external
windowsmagazine@futurenet.com
w 2004 gets a makeover for 2020. screen, these are the ones to look at.

The Upgrade secttion is your key to finding out about the latest
T
products, all desig
p gned to help you get more from your PC

You can trust our reviews
Our reviewers are 100 per cent
independent, with years of
experience in the world of computing.
Our rigorous testing procedures mean
that only genuine, high-quality
products are awarded high star ratings.
If you see an item of hardware bearing
DKLJKVFRUH\RXFDQEHFRQÀGHQWWKDW
it is an excellent product.
We choose the best products
Thousands of new PC products
are released every year and
choosing between them can be an
impossible task. Our experts select only
the best hardware and software to
feature in this magazine. Even better,
our star rating system makes it simple
WRÀQGWKHEHVWSURGXFWVJLYLQJ\RX
a fast, trustworthy guide.
How we review
Our expert reviewers guarantee
to test every piece of hardware
rigorously and thoroughly, using
only acknowledged experts to
establish the worth of a product.
We always review from the viewpoint
of our readers; the day-to-day
practicality and quality of a product
is paramount.

RATING EXPLAINED Superb Very good Good Disappointing Poor

April 2020 | | 71
2-IN-1
LAPTOPS
As the line between laptops and tablets blurs, Christian Guyton
pits three of the best hybrid models against one other

T
he 2-in-1 laptop has never
been better. While systems
that combine elements of
both laptops and tablets are
nothing new, this last year has seen these
ultralight devices reach new heights in
both design and performance.
While Microsoft might have fought to
popularise the detachable keyboard with
its Surface series of tablets, and Dell
ventured into something unique and weird
with the XPS Duo’s revolving display, it’s
become clear that the optimum form for
2-in-1 devices is a simple convertible
design, where the keyboard folds around
to sit flush against the rear of the screen.
This is what differentiates 2-in-1s from
similar Ultrabook devices, which share
the lightweight design yet tend to lack
any kind of touch controls and a nifty
‘tablet mode’.
What makes 2-in-1 devices so coveted?
The answer is simpler than you might
think: we want all the cool tech handed
to us all at once, and hybrid devices
scratch that itch rather perfectly.
Advancements in processors, graphical
power and intelligent small-scale data
storage mean that these quasi-tablets are
now more powerful than ever before.
They’re capable of taking on increasingly
demanding tasks, and appeal to a wide
range of users from creative types to
business professionals. Let’s take a look at
three of the best 2-in-1s available now to
help you find your dream machine…

72 | | April 2020

WHAT’S ON TEST…
1 HP Spectre x360 13.3
Perhaps the most visually appealing
of our three convertibles is the
2 Dell XPS 13
latest model of the Spectre x360,
which comes equipped with a 10th-
generation Intel Core i7 processor.
It’s a sleek, beautifully designed
laptop that also manages to include
top-notch internal hardware, some
useful cybersecurity features, and a
luscious 4K screen.
£1,799, hp.com
SPECS
PROCESSOR Intel Core i7-1065G7
GRAPHICS Intel Iris Plus Graphics
RAM 16GB
DISPLAY 13.3-inch 4K OLED
STORAGE 1TB NVMe SSD
WEIGHT 1.31kg
BATTERY 4-cell 60Wh
Upgrade
2-in-1 laptops group test
The XPS is the archetypal 2-in-1
laptop, performing well in both
3 HP ZBook X2
A departure from the conventional.
HP’s ZBook X2 is a content creation
ODSWRS DQG WDEOHW FRQÀJXUDWLRQV powerhouse, billed by HP as ‘the
thanks to an excellent touchscreen world’s most powerful detachable
DQG ÁH[LEOH GHVLJQ ,W·V FXW IURP tablet PC’. Unlike the Microsoft
a single piece of aluminium, with Surface, the keyboard operates
a sturdy design that holds up using Bluetooth, enabling it to
particularly well. Our test model remain active while detached from
is packing the same updated the 4K display. Will it measure up
processor as the HP Spectre x360. against these conventional 2-in-1s?
From £1,239, dell.com From £3,656, hp.com
SPECS SPECS
PROCESSOR Intel Core i7-1065G7 PROCESSOR Intel Core i7-8650U
GRAPHICS Intel Iris Plus Graphics GRAPHICS Nvidia Qu adro M620
RAM 16GB RAM 16GB
DISPLAY 13.4-inch Full HD DISPLAY 14.3-inch 4K
STORAGE 512GB NVMe SSD STORAGE 1TB NVMe SSD
WEIGHT 1.33kg WEIGHT 2.17kg
BATTERY 4-cell 51Wh BATTERY 4-cell 70Wh
April 2020 | | 73
HP SPECTRE 1 HP SPECTRE X360 13.3

X360 13.3
HP’s sleek answer to the growing
popularity of convertible laptops
P’s Spectre series of laptops have

H always felt like high-end products, and

the Spectre x360 is certainly no
exception. Bringing the hybrid tablet
element to an already excellent laptop line was a
no-brainer, and the new model of the x360 we’re
looking at here is the best version yet.
That’s due primarily to the new processor, the
Intel Core i7-1065G7. So there’s faster cores and
improved connectivity, and there’s something
new too: Iris Plus, Intel’s latest integrated
graphics solution for mobile devices.
Iris Plus is a huge improvement over the
previous Intel UHD integrated graphics. Superior
performance means that unlike older ultralight
laptops, this version of the x360 is actually
capable of some light gaming. It’s not going to
run modern triple-A titles at higher graphical
settings, but it can handle the latest indie games
or a spot of Fortnite for the kids.
The Spectre x360 is perfectly pitched for
multitasking, with 16GB of RAM and a sizeable
1TB solid state drive. Data transfers are as speedy
as they get. The x360 might be super-thin, but it

“Using the stylus with the

x360 in tablet mode is
perfect for digital artists”
still has a regular USB port that folds out of the
chassis, plus two USB-C ports, a microSD reader
and a standard headphone jack.
This flexible connectivity extends beyond the
laptop’s physical ports, too. Wi-Fi 6 support
allows for higher speed connections, and the
laptop comes with Bluetooth 5.0. The USB-C
ports support Thunderbolt 3 transfer speeds,
and can be connected to a monitor via the
included USB-C hub with an HDMI adapter.
There’s little need to, though, because the 4K
OLED display is glorious.
Yes, the screen is excellent; crystal clear blacks
and fantastic colour density paired with a good
maximum brightness. Touch controls in tablet
mode feel snappy and responsive, but for those
who prefer to avoid fingerprints on their screens,
the x360 also comes packaged with HP’s Tilt Pen.
The Tilt Pen is a two-button wireless smart stylus
that lasted for over eight hours in our tests
before needing to be recharged. Using the stylus
with the x360 in tablet mode feels great; a
perfect setup for digital artists.
It’s an attractive package, but there’s a sizeable
price tag: the Spectre x360 featured here costs
£1,799, which is no small sum of money for a
laptop, even one as wonderfully designed as this.
That said, we would still recommend the x360.
Simply put, this is a wonderful slice of high-tech The HP Spectre x360 is a beautifully designed product with responsive touch controls,
goodness that feels great to use. and lends itself very well to a range of creative tasks.

74 | | April 2020

DELL XPS 13 7390
2 DELL XPS
The XPS 13 comes with Dell’s CinemaStream and CinemaColor tech, optimising video
for a top-notch small-screen viewing experience.
Upgrade
2-in-1 laptops group test
13 7390
An affordable, good-quality 2-in-1
laptop that sets the bar high
he 7390 2-in-1 edition of Dell’s
T dependable XPS laptop series is the
baseline for convertible laptop
performance. It’s not flashy like the
HP Spectre x360, or unique like the HP ZBook
X2. This is a 2-in-1 for those who want a good
laptop and a good tablet, packaged into the
same device.
The XPS 13 has the same Intel processor as
the Spectre x360, so performance is broadly
comparable to HP’s sleeker 2-in-1. This XPS can
handle a spot of gaming, as well as perform
mid-level rendering and video processing tasks.
In fact, it outperforms the HP x360 by a small
amount in some areas, likely due to a superior
thermal design that prevents CPU throttling.
There’s plenty to set Dell’s offering apart from
the x360, though. For starters, it’s a few hundred
pounds cheaper; the XPS doesn’t come with a
stylus, but this is still a significantly cheaper
product than the Spectre x360. From £1,239 for
a decent 2-in-1 laptop is a good deal, so the
XPS has the value factor cornered.
The LED display is slightly larger than the x360
“The XPS 13 isn’t as flashy
as the competition, but
it oesn’t need to be”
too. It’s a 13.4-inch LED panel with a satisfyingly
large viewing angle. So not great for privacy, but
excellent for watching movies or giving a
presentation. It’s not a 4K screen, sadly, but this
bright, near-edgeless display still packs excellent
colours and feels good to use in tablet mode.
Sound quality is good, with the dual-speaker
setup producing full and rich audio. The fans can
get a little noisy at times. Battery life is fine,
lasting slightly less than the Spectre x360 in our
tests. Both 2-in-1s suffer from their 10th-
generation Intel CPUs being a bit more power-
hungry than older models, but in broad terms
both laptops have solid battery life.
Storage is where the XPS falls down – its
512GB internal NVMe SSD is respectable, but
half that of the x360, which skews the value
proposition of the two laptops somewhat.
The XPS’s drive is also significantly slower,
with around 30% poorer read times and 50%
slower writes. While this difference won’t be
too noticeable, anyone working with large
files will likely prefer the x360.
There’s plenty to admire here. The
360-degree hinge feels sturdy, and we love
the aluminium and carbon fibre finish. It’s not
as flashy as the competition, but in a way it
doesn’t need to be; if you’re not bothered by
aesthetics, a laptop doesn’t need to be fancy, it
just needs to be good.
April 2020 | | 75
HP 3 HP ZBOOK X2

ZBOOK X2
A tablet PC with detachable keyboard
for creatives who like versatility
et’s make this clear: the HP ZBook

L X2 isn’t winning any awards for

value. None of these 2-in-1s are
budget products, but the X2 costs
more than the other two laptops combined. It
doesn’t quite occupy the same mainstream
convertible position as the other 2-in-1s
we’re looking at here. While the ZBook X2’s
appearance might superficially place it
alongside products like the Microsoft’s
Surface Pro, this is a powerful tool for
professional creatives.
HP initially marketed the ZBook X2 as a
‘detachable workstation’, and that moniker rings
true. The X2 is a bit older than the Spectre x360
and the XPS 13 7390, and it certainly looks it: a
chunky, weighty tablet with large buttons inlaid
on the bezel. It’s strangely reminiscent of
plasticky tablets from the mid 2000s, but has a
far superior build quality.
That quality extends to the internal hardware.
The X2 has a discrete GPU, the Nvidia Quadro
M620, designed for demanding video editing,
3D rendering and graphic design tasks in a

“In terms of connectivity,

the X2 offers a far
superior port selection”
lightweight device. Running a standalone GPU
exacts a heavy toll on the battery, though,
cutting the battery life down to about four hours.
Our X2 also has a quad-core Intel processor, 16GB
of RAM and a 1TB SSD.
The six buttons either side of the display act as
hotkeys compatible with Adobe’s suite of creative
software. It’s great; instant, physical-feedback
keys that enable the user to lock the touchscreen,
and to pan, zoom and preview, plus a selection of
other functions. Using the ZBook X2, it’s clear
that this is a finely specialised tool.
Backing up that creative angle is a Wacom
stylus with almost zero latency and excellent
pressure sensitivity. It’s a joy to use, and comes
with its own little case. The 4K screen is bright
and colourful, with a wide viewing angle and an
anti-glare sheen over the top that makes the X2
usable even in brightly lit environments.
In terms of connectivity, this offers a far
superior selection than its competitors. In
addition to USB-C ports, there’s an HDMI port,
and a fingerprint scanner. The X2 only uses Wi-Fi
5, but that’s not really a dealbreaker.
On the whole, the ZBook X2 loses out to the
other two convertible laptops in many areas. But
it’s greater than the sum of its parts, and is an
extremely effective and versatile device for
content creators who need the best hardware As a more niche product, availability of the ZBook X2 may not be as universal as the
they can currently get their hands on. other two products, but shop around and you should be able to find it.

76 | | April 2020

THE OVERALL
WINNER IS…
HP SPECTRE X360 13.3
£1,799, hp.com
WE LIKED: WE’D IMPROVE:
Awesomely sleek and A bit pricey for an
aesthetically pleasing unspecialised laptop; fans
design; nifty built-in can get a little noisy;
security features to help plastic casing doesn’t feel
safeguard you and your super durable.
data; 4K display looks
bright, sharp and colourful; THE LAST WORD:
plenty of storage with The Spectre x360 wins
super-fast internal transfer because it simply feels
speeds and Thunderbolt 3 the best to use, with solid
support; comes packaged performance and a
with HP’s Tilt Pen; great flexible design that also
all-around performance. looks great.
DELL XPS 13 7390
From £1,239, dell.com
Joint 2nd WE LIKED: Well-priced; makes
the most of Iris Plus integrated
graphics; good connectivity
and battery life.
WE’D IMPROVE: Display is
only regular HD; SSD is
decidedly unimpressive; no
USB-A port for flash drives.
THE LAST WORD: The XPS
13 7390 is a great, capable
hybrid laptop that we’d
recommend to all.
FIVE THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR WHEN BUYING A 2-IN-1
01 DOES IT USE 02 HOW DOES THE
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS? MACHINE CHARGE?
One of the f irst things to There are few things more
look for in any computer frustrating than needing
is whether or not it uses to charge your laptop but
processor-integrated also needing that port for
graphics (as opposed to something else. The HP
a discrete graphics card, Spectre x360 and Dell
like the HP ZBook X2’s XPS 13 are powered via a
Nvidia Quadro GPU). The USB-C port, which bars
former is t ypically less use of that port while the
power ful and puts more device is charging. The
strain on the processor, ZBook X2 has a dedicated
but the lat ter will power port.
negatively impact
bat ter y life. If you 03 HOW MUCH STORAGE
need power ful graphics, IS THERE?
a discrete GPU is the Modern 2-in-1s almost
way to go. unilaterally use M.2 solid
2-in-1 laptops group test
1st
HP ZBOOK X2
From £3,656, hp.com
Joint 2nd
state drives, which boast
extremely fast read and
write times. Drive
capacities will typically
range from 128GB up to
2TB – when deciding on
the model you want,
consider the type of files
you use and the space
you’ll need.
04 WHAT RESOLUTION
IS THE SCREEN?
If you need to work on 4K
video footage on your
laptop, you’re going to
want a 2-in-1 equipped
with a 4K display. It’s
worth bearing in mind that
April 2020 |
Upgrade
WE LIKED: Keyboard and
stylus both feel great to use;
display has incredible colour
density; shortcut buttons for
Adobe software are useful.
WE’D IMPROVE: Battery life
is lacklustre; could use a more
modern GPU; weak speakers.
THE LAST WORD: Good,
but hindered by being
too expensive and
overly specialised.
some laptops and
tablets use esoteric
resolutions that may
require some tweaking.
05 HOW LONG IS THE
BATTERY LIFE?
This varies quite a lot
between machines. If you
have a small commute and
keep your laptop plugged
in when you’re in the
office, a shorter battery life
might not be a big issue.
Pay attention to the spec
to see what the minimum
battery life is, as this will
give you an idea of what to
expect with typical use.
| 77
 Razer Blade Stealth 13
From £1,299 | $1,659 www.razer.com
Lightweight Razer style, now in white
W
hen Intel unveiled a new
generation of laptop
processors, equipped with
powerful new Iris Plus integrated
graphics, modern notebooks
suddenly became more capable of
gaming than ever before. It’s only
taken a few months for a gaming-
oriented manufacturer to jump
aboard, and we’re glad it was Razer,
because the new Razer Blade
Stealth 13 might be the best
gaming experience we’ve ever had
on integrated graphics.
The previous integrated graphics
version, the Razer Blade Stealth 13
(2018), however, was a bit lacking.
An 8th-gen Intel processor alone
wasn’t enough to carry anything
but the most basic games, so
despite the lower power draw and
quieter running volume, it wasn’t
quite worth the asking price.
Iris Plus has changed the game,
though, and Razer has put it to
work in this new ‘Mercury White’
edition of the Blade Stealth 13
78 | | April 2020
(2019). 16GB of high-speed RAM
joins the Intel Core i7-1065G7 CPU,
making for an extremely capable
lightweight laptop, truly worthy
of the ultrabook name.
The Stealth 13 runs very
quietly. While idling, the dual
fans are almost imperceptibly
soft, and never rose above a low
hum throughout our testing
process – even while stressing
the processor.
The low thermal power design
of the Intel Core i7-1065G7 works
wonders for this system, keeping
the casing cool even during
hectic online matches and
ensuring that the Blade’s battery
life far outstrips the models with
discrete graphics cards.
The only area where the Blade’s
hardware disappoints is the drive,
which is a measly 256GB SSD. It
can’t be upgraded without voiding
the warranty, either; a likely source
of frustration for users who
regularly play a wide variety of
games, as that drive will fill up fast.
It is a PCIe 3.0 M.2 drive, which
means file transfers will be
super-fast, at least.
While it isn’t going to play the
latest big games at maxed-out
graphical settings, the Blade Stealth
13 can definitely handle indie titles
or esports games at lower settings.
Having both USB-A and C ports
along with Bluetooth connectivity
means that connecting a mouse for
gaming is easy too.
The Mercury White edition of this
laptop is, fundamentally, a pretty
great piece of tech. What we would
change is the price. There’s no
getting around it; Razer’s hardware
isn’t cheap, and this ultrabook is no
exception, particularly as it doesn’t
have a discrete GPU.
Images : Razer
Design
Aesthetics have always been
Razer’s strong suit, and this laptop
is no exception. The iconic black
and green colour-scheme is gone,

though h, replaced by a brushed
silver finish
fi dubbed Mercury White.
The ke eys are a pure white, with
RGB baacklighting and glossy,
dirt-resistant
di texturing. Even the
Razer logo has undergone a facelift,
now appearing as simple line art
with a mirrored finish.
It doesn’t feel as much like a
gaming laptop any more. While
other models of Razer’s flagship
ultrabook pack battery-guzzling
discrete GPUs and the dark ‘gamer
style’. This feels more like a
professional tool, equipped with
“Fundamentally, this is a pretty great piece of
tech. What we would change is the price”
just enough of Razer’s gaming
experience to fulfil both roles well.
It does enough to set itself apart in
both arenas, too. A high-quality
braided USB-C charging cable
completes the look.
Other than the total recolour,
this is the same Blade Stealth 13
we’ve seen a few times before.
The trackpad is perfectly sized,
allowing for a generous amount
of finger travel, and the speakers
are concealed under thin mesh
strips either side of the keyboard.
Speaking of speakers – no pun
intended, honest – the sound
quality is surprisingly good for such
a compact laptop. While most
serious gamers will want to plug
in a headset, the speakers are
perfectly capable of pumping
Razer Blade Stealth 13
out high-volume audio without the
kind of distortion you might expect
from small drivers.
The keyboard feels good to use
for both typing and gaming, with
nice large keys despite the small
chassis. The RGB lighting effects
can be customised using the
pre-installed Razer software, and
looks bright and colourful.
The screen is a fairly run-of-the-
mill 1080p IPS panel, measuring
13.3 inches. Why do laptop
manufacturers all feel they have the
right to remove the decimal in their
product names? We may never
know. Either way, the display is
bright and very colourful in motion,
great for both games and videos.
Performance
We knew what to expect from the
hardware inside this Blade Stealth
13, but the results we got still
impressed, as they were slightly
better than the figures we had
expected. The Intel Iris Plus
graphics did great in graphical
benchmarks, and rendering tests
showed performance on part with
other 10th-gen Intel notebooks.
Solid scores in GeekBench and
PCMark demonstrate that the Blade
Stealth 13 is a capable all-rounder,
just as comfortable loading
spreadsheets as it is rendering 3D
April 2020 |
Upgrade
Specs as reviewed
Razer Blade Stealth 13
Supplier www.razer.com
CPU Intel Core i7-1065G7
GPU Intel Iris Plus
RAM 16GB
Storage 256GB NVMe SSD
Screen 13.3-inch 1080p IPS
Connectivity Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0,
Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.0/3.1
graphics or playing movies. This is a
gaming notebook, yes, but it’s not
just a gaming notebook.
While the SSD might be quite
small, it still transfers files at
tremendous speeds. Games load
quickly, and copying files from
external storage is faster than with
older hard drives.
The gaming performance is the
best we’ve seen from an ultrabook
without a discrete graphics card.
No, ultra settings aren’t an
attainable goal in most games, but
dropping the settings to Medium
or Low makes just about everything
but the most demanding titles
playable at 1080p. And during all
our game tests, the Blade Stealth 13
ran cool and quiet.
While it doesn’t quite match up
against skinnier notebooks and
hybrid tablets, the Mercury White
model of the Blade Stealth 13 (2019)
has an impressive battery life,
managing to comfortably outstrip
the other models of the Blade
Stealth 13 thanks to its lack of a
discrete GPU.
In video playback with a
balanced power plan, the battery
performed excellently, lasting for
almost ten hours. Running the
Blade Stealth 13 on battery saver
mode guarantees all-day
performance off a single charge
if you’re using it for everyday
work and web browsing.
Games do drain the battery a
lot faster, but this ultrabook can
definitely handle a good four or
five hours of Fortnite before it
needs charging. Of course, we’d
always recommend gaming
with your laptop plugged in for
the best performance.
Razer has spruced up its 13-inch
ultrabook with new components,
and it still runs super-quiet.
| 79

T
he Acer ConceptD 7 is the
latest example of laptop
makers using their expertise in
creating thin, light and powerful
gaming laptops to create
stunningly-designed and powerful
workstation laptops aimed at
creatives – and directly challenging
the MacBook Pro.
Apple’s traditional dominance in
mindshare is under serious threat
from Windows laptops. This is
largely due to Nvidia’s RTX Studio
initiative, where the GPU maker
works with laptop makers to create
workstation laptops that feature
Nvidia’s latest RTX graphics cards
– which is what has happened with
the Acer ConceptD 7.
It’s a stylish and powerful laptop
that’s squarely aimed at
professionals and creatives who
need plenty of graphical oomph
– and with some of Nvidia’s latest
and greatest RTX graphical tech on
board, it’s not a bad choice for
people who want to play the odd
80 | |
Acer ConceptD 7
From £2,299 | $2,299 www.acer.com
A mobile workstation for creatives
game either – though if you’re
mainly buying a laptop to play
on, you’re better off buying a
dedicated gaming laptop instead.
It comes with features that
mainstream laptops lack, such as a
Pantone-validated screen and
support for the Adobe RGB and
Delta E<2 colour gamuts. For those
who work in industries where
colour accuracy is of the utmost
importance, such as photographers
and video editors, these are big, if
expensive, selling points.
The ConceptD Palette UI is a
pre-installed bit of software that
helps you adjust the colours of the
screen, as well as other settings, to
ensure that tit is set up the way you
need it to be for work, and little
touches like this are what set it
apart from other workstations.
Of course, all this comes at a cost,
and with a price starting at £2,299,
the ConceptD 7 is certainly a pricey
proposition. If you’re looking for a
Windows-powered MacBook
April 2020
alternative for video and photo
editing, however, it certainly makes
a great impression.
Hardware and design
Acer’s gaming laptops often come
with big and brash designs
– especially its Helios range – the
ConceptD 7 has a much more
restrained look, in line with its
positioning as a ‘serious’
professional device. So, while the
shape of the laptop is similar to
the gaming laptops, the colour
scheme is white with warm yellow
RGB backlighting for the keys.
It’s certainly a design that you’d
be happy to take out in a studio,
office or meeting room, but
rather than being stylishly
minimalist, we think the design
is a little dull. Perhaps it’s the
Images: Acer
all-white design, which is a nice
change to all-black laptops, but
just doesn’t grab the eye.
We’ve also had bad experiences
in the past of white – and light-

colored gadgets in general –
looking rather grubby after a while.
Thankfully, during our time with
the ConceptD 7 it stayed as
vibrant as when we first unpacked
it, and Acer says it has a stain-
resistant coating that protects
it from yellowing and marks.
Unfortunately, this also means it
doesn’t quite have the premium
“You want something that allows you to plug in all
your devices without having to fiddle around”
look and feel of laptops made out
of metal, such as the MacBook Pro.
With dimensions of 17.90 x 358.5
x 255mm and a weight of 2.10kg,
the ConceptD 7 is by no means a
bulky laptop, but it’s not as svelte
as the MacBook Pro 16-inch, which
measures up at 16.2 x 357.9 x
245.9mm, and weighs 2kg.
On paper that might not look
like a huge difference, but you can
certainly tell when viewing the
two laptops side-by-side, or
when carrying them around. The
MacBook Pro just feels like a better
put together device, with a classier
look as well.
There’s one area where the
ConceptD 7 absolutely trounces the
MacBook Pro 16-inch, and justifies
the larger size and shape, and that’s
the array of ports on offer. While
the MacBook only offers four
Thunderbolt 3 ports and an audio
jack, the Acer ConceptD 7 has three
USB 3.1 ports, a full-size HDMI 2.0
port, a mini DisplayPort 1.4, a
ThunderBolt 3 USB-C port and an
Ethernet port.
This instantly makes it a much
more versatile device than Apple’s.
When looking for a professional
laptop for working on, you want
something that allows you to
plug in your devices without
having to fiddle around with
adapters. This is something the
ConceptD 7 provides in spades.
The only noticeable absence is a
memory card slot, which will
disappoint photographers.
Performance and battery
The model we’ve reviewed comes
with 32GB of RAM, an Intel Core
i7-9750H six-core processor and
Nvidia RTX 2080 Max-Q graphics
card, along with a 1TB SSD. These
are some very impressive
specifications, so it’s no surprise
that it performs brilliantly in our
benchmark tests, as well as in
April 2020 |
Upgrade
Acer ConceptD 7
Specs as reviewed
Acer ConceptD 7
Supplier www.acer.com
CPU Intel Core i7-9750H
GPU Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 8GB
RAM 32GB
Storage 1TB PCIe SSD
Connectivity Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5
Dimensions 35.8 x 25.4 x 1.8cm
Weight 2.1kg
day-to-day tasks. Windows 10 feels
incredibly smooth and responsive
on the laptop, and when used for
photo editing and image
manipulating, the RTX graphics
card means the laptop doesn’t even
break a sweat.
In fact, using it for these kind of
tasks would be doing a disservice
to the laptop – as well as your bank
balance. The power and price of the
ConceptD 7 – especially the
configuration that was sent to us
– means it offers a level of
performance that only a few
people will need.
Of course, the RTX 2080 is also a
formidable gaming GPU, and while
the ConceptD 7 is most definitely
not advertised as a gaming laptop,
it is capable of playing the latest
games at high settings and
resolutions. If you’re a graphic
designer, say, who also likes playing
games, then the ConceptD 7 is a
more easily justifiable purchase, as
it’s adept at both work and play.
As is so often the case with
powerful laptops, the battery life of
the ConceptD 7 isn’t great. It lasted
five hours and 59 minutes in our
benchmark test, which runs a
looped 1080p video.
That’s not offensively low, and
will last you a day if you’re careful,
but remember that playing a video
isn’t particularly taxing. If you
perform more intensive tasks, such
as rendering 3D graphics, then the
battery is going to drain a lot faster.
While this isn’t unusual for such a
high-end laptop, the MacBook Pro
16-inch shows you can have
powerful components and a long
battery life, as it managed 11 hours
and 41 minutes in our battery test
– a huge difference.
An incredibly powerful laptop
that’s packed with some of the
best mobile technology.
| 81
 DrayTek Vigor2926Lac
£520 | $565 www.draytek.co.uk
A flexible business router with built in 4G/LTE connectivity
A
imed at business users, the
DrayTek Vigor2926Lac is
perfect for those who need
excellent internet redundancy and
network management options. The
router comes in two models, one
with and one without Wi-Fi, that
are otherwise identical. We tested
the Vigor2926Lac model, which is
equipped with 802.11ac Wi-Fi.
While the router is flexible
enough to also work for prosumers,
it’s most noteworthy for its ability
to handle external VPN connections
as well as managing other network
devices such as wireless access
points. Thanks to the 4G/LTE
connection, it’s also well suited to
providing internet in the field, or for
use at shows or even in situations
such as on tour busses.
Hardware and design
This model’s stand-out feature is
definitely that LTE connectivity. The
router includes a cellular modem,
and takes a single standard-size SIM
82 | | April 2020
card via a slot in the rear.
Considering the more affordable
DrayTek 2620Ln LTE router
handles dual sims, it is somewhat
disappointing not to see the same
feature offered here. The router is
LTE Category 4, which means it can
provide a maximum of 150 Mbps
down, and 50 Mbps up and
supports the frequencies used by
most major carriers. The router
comes with magnetic external
cellular antennas, but you can also
attach your own larger high-gain
models for better reception. The
2926L can also be used to send and
receive SMS, and even report its
status with a text.
Wired connections are handled
by four Gigabit LAN ports on the
front of the router. There are also
dual gigabit WAN ports, one of
which can be configured as an
extra LAN port.
Wi-Fi is 4x4 MU-MIMO 802.11ac
spec with four removable antennas
on the rear. The 2926Lac is capable
of up to 300Mbps when connecting
to older 2.4GHz devices, while the
5GHz 802.11ac side is rated at
1.7Gbps. The router can also be set
to run as a Wi-Fi bridge or repeater.
There’s also a single USB 2.0 port
on the front of the router – in our
opinion, an often overlooked
feature. It can be used in the typical
way, to add control of a printer or
connect USB storage to the
network. But it can also be used
with an optional temperature
probe or run a USB 3.5/4G modem.
This means you can get around the
single SIM card limitation, and have
two different cellular internet
connections going at once, or set
up to failover. Impressively, this
allows four independent methods
Images : Techradar
of internet connectivity at once
(dual WAN, dual 4G).
Ease of use
It will come as no surprise that a
feature-packed business router
such as the Vigor2926Lac is going

to have a fairly complex interface.
But one aspect that really helps
DrayTek stand out is its dedication
to simplifying the setup process, as
well as providing a large variety of
guides online. That said, the
interface doesn’t have the same
polish you might find in home
routers, but it is relatively
straightforward and logically laid
out. If you truly get stuck, there is
also email support available.
Once you have the router
plugged in and all six antennas
screwed into place, setup is quite
“One aspect that really helps DrayTek stand out is
its dedication to simplifying the setup process”
easy thanks to the quick-start
wizard. Even better, there are
wizards for dealing with wireless
setup as well as VPNs and other
services. The SIM card slot is behind
a screw-in panel on the rear (two
fine Phillips-head screws) and
needs a full-size SIM or an adaptor
if using a micro or nano card.
All in all, the DrayTek
Vigor2926Lac is straightforward to
get up and running, even for those
without much IT experience. If you
can log in and configure a home
router, then this really isn’t much
harder until you hit some of the
more complex features.
Performance
While the 2926Lac is undoubtedly
a great business modem, it can
DrayTek Vigor2926Lac
also do double duty in a high-end
home environment. While there
are some cheaper DrayTek LTE-
equipped routers, the 2926 also
has some very handy features for
extra redundancy. A basic home
installation might include a
primary internet connection via
WAN, and an affordable SIM card
from a cellular provider. If the main
internet ever drops out, the 4G
connection can be configured to
automatically step in.
DrayTek has some great
examples of business deployment
on its website, such as providing
Wi-Fi internet at an outdoor
event, or provisioning internet
at a mobile office. It can even
handle restricting access to the
network, and having users log
in using Facebook or Google
and allowing for the monitoring
of their activity.
The 2926Lac could also be used
as a stop gap measure at a new
site, providing 4G based internet
until a wired connection is up and
running. DrayTek even includes
information on how the router
can be powered from 24V (for
example, in a truck) using an off
the shelf DC-DC converter.
Compared to a more traditional
Wi-Fi hotspot aimed at the home
user, the 2926Lac has loads of
April 2020 |
Upgrade
i
DrayTek Vigor2926Lac
Supplier www.draytek.co.uk
WAN ports 2 x GbE WAN
LAN ports 4 x RJ-45 1GbE
Wi-Fi 802.11ac Dual Band 1.7Gbps
4G/LTE Cat 4, 2x antennas
USB 2.0 ports 1 x front
Maximum VPN tunnels 50
Maximum VLANs 16
Power 12v, 2A
Dimensions 241 x 166 x 46 mm
Warranty two-years back to base
business-centric features. Most
important is failover, where the
router can be set to automatically
start using the 4G connection if
the main internet goes down. But
it can also be set to provide load
balancing, and use 4G data if the
main connection is maxed out, or
prioritise certain essential traffic
that needs extra bandwidth.
You can also share bandwidth
between the connections for
extra performance.
We tested 4G/LTE connectivity
on the Optus network in Sydney,
Australia. In an area of strong 4G
signal, the 2926 was able to
achieve speeds of 82 Mbps down
and 19 Mbps up. Not achieving
the full 150/50 Mbps possible is
not a failing of the router, as the
maximum speed is highly
dependent on factors such as
how many other people are
using the same cell tower.
In an area of low signal, the
2926 managed 2.77 Mbps down
and 1.4 Mbps up. To put that
result into perspective, in the
same area a mobile phone had
zero signal, and a portable 4G
router with internal antennas
could only maintain an intermittent
connection to the net.
The 2926 is an advanced router,
and overall we are impressed with
how flexible it is, from prosumer
usage all the way up to larger
businesses. The ability to control
other Vigor networking products
also makes it very easy to expand a
network over time without losing
any functionality, or paying big
upfront costs.
Well worth the price, and well
equipped to handle network
management for a business.
| 83
 £1,350 | $1,500 www.motorola.com
The Razr folds, but at a high price
T
he new Razr is a great design
concept, but its execution
leaves several things to be
desired. The ambition and potential
are there – and perhaps it will be
realized in a successor device – but
for now, it’s tough to recommend
the Razr at its current high price.
On the plus side, it’s the first
clamshell foldable to market, with
an unprecedented format that
halves the smartphone’s footprint
and cashes in on nostalgia with a
design that evokes the original Razr
V3, while unfolding to reveal a
modern smartphone display.
But the drawbacks are equally
apparent, with underwhelming
specs and cameras, an older
operating system (Android 9) out of
the box, and questionable design
choices that make the phone
somewhat cumbersome to use.
We’re looking forward to seeing
a refined interface, display, and
specs that match this phone’s
design promises in a Razr 2. As it
84 | | April 2020
is, it’s tough to recommend
this Razr to folks who aren’t
completely smitten by the
physical flip phone flow.
Something important to note,
in case you plan on popping your
old nanoSIM card into this phone:
the new Razr doesn’t have a SIM
slot, instead relying on an eSIM. In
the UK it’s exclusively available
through EE, and only on a contract
starting at £94/month with an
upfront fee of £100 – all told, that’s
£2,356 over 24 months, and that’s
only the cheapest option.
Design
The Razr’s design is a mostly great
execution of an idea so ludicrous
it’s either laughable or genius: flip
phones for the smartphone era. Of
course, this was shrewdly pitched
as homage to the 2004 Motorola
Razr v3, one of the most instantly-
recognisable phone designs ever.
The result is a foldable that bears
a strong resemblance to its famous
predecessor, retaining its flip
mechanics while allowing for an
interior display as big as that on
most modern flagship phones.
When closed it’s a thick sandwich,
but with a footprint half the size of
most handsets.
Design-wise, it’s a success…
mostly. The hinge works, which is
welcome to hear after the only
other foldable released to most
world markets, the Samsung Galaxy
Fold, ran into issues with its display
and concerns over its durability.
When we first saw the Razr back
in November 2019, the screen left
a gap over the hinge when it
unfolded, but it’s seemingly been
refined to make the screen sink
inward. There’s still a concern over
Images : Motorola
whether dirt or particles will fall
into the phone and muck up the
gears. We haven’t noticed this in
our short review period, but we’ll
stay vigilant.
But the big concern here is the
display: in the week or so that we
 Upgrade
Motorola Razr

Specs as reviewed
Motorola Razr
Supplier www.motorola.com
CPU Octa-core (2x2.2 GHz 360 Gold +
6x1.7 GHz Kryo 360 Silver)
RAM 6GB
Storage 128GB
Screen 876 x 2142 pixels
Weight 205g

a 16% battery loss isn n’t that

had the device it’s started to make
creaking noises while bending
inward. There aren’t any creases
yet, but the sound is disquieting.
Another annoyance is in actually
flipping the phone open – it is a
bit tough to do. The handset is
denser than expected, and its
width, combined with a resistant
hinge (to keep it shut), make it
difficult to open one-handed…
which sort of defeats the whole
point of a flip phone. Given the
hard-to-grip sides, which narrow
to a sharp edge, you have to stab
“This phone feels like a throwback to the days when
phones were more than identikit black rectangles”
a finger in between both sides and
pry it open.
Furthermore the volume rocker
and lock buttons have been
slimmed down to fit this narrowed
edge. They’re hard to tell apart and
tough to press. This is especially
annoying when it’s closed, as the
buttons are the prime controls for
media and selfie photos.
The thick chin, containing the
USB-C port and speakers, also has
drawbacks, as you’ll have to dig to
the bottom edge of the display to
access navigation (either the
standard three-button nav or the
Moto bar, a gesture control bar). On
the chin’s front is an ovoid
fingerprint sensor which doesn’t
read fingers in any orientation but
upright, and even then it’s a bit
finicky. Sadly, all this tight design
has required the trimming of perks
such as a 3.5mm headphone jack
or, more importantly, a microSD
slot – you’ll have to make do with
the 128GB of on-board storage.
Performance
P f
The Motorola Razr is pricier than
flagship smartphones, yet is less
powerful. While it doesn’t hang or
stutter with basic navigation or
media watching, its Snapdragon
710 processor and 6GB of RAM are
more suited to mid-range phones.
It’s far from inadequate for basic
tasks, but more intensive tasks will
tax the chipset: the phone scored
1,522 on Geekbench 5’s multi-core
test. For comparison, last year’s
Samsung Galaxy S10 scored 2,056
in the same test, while the OnePlus
7 Pro hit 2666. The Razr is far from
the fastest on the block.
The other drawback to its
performance is the operating
system version: the Motorola Razr
ships with Android 9 Pie. While it’s
not a dealbreaker, it’s an odd choice
to launch this phone without the
latest version, Android 10… which
was released in September 2019.
Our standard battery-drain test
– a 90-minute video at full
brightness – dropped the battery
from full charge down to 84%, and
extreme, as most flag gships run
through the same tesst lose 15-20%.
With moderate usage e, which
included some Google Doc word
processing, gaming, and a watching
videos, it did manage e to last a day
before recharging.
There’s an argumen nt that the
mini front display savves more
battery, given that yo ou’re
illuminating a much ssmaller screen
to check the time or n notifications
than on a typical smaartphone. That
doesn’t really play out, however
– you’ll still need to yank open the
phone to interact witth it in any
meaningful fashion.
The upside of havin ng a small
capacity is that the ph hone
recharges rather quicckly, even
with the 18W maximu um charging
speed of the in-box ccharger. There’s
also a battery saver m mode for eking
out a bit more life wh hen you’re
running low.
This phone looks raather good,
and will turn heads when you pull it
out in public. It’s slimmer than the
Samsung Galaxy Fold, and has a
much more satisfying snap-to-close
feel to it. It feels like a throwback to
the days when phones were more
than identikit black rectangles, and
it’s functional to boot.
There’s no shame in missing a
phone design that really worked.
Flip phones were the future when
Motorola unleashed the StarTAC on
the world back in 1996, and the
Razr v3 cemented the company’s
reputation as an innovator. The
new Razr is a great reminder that
phones used to be physically small
yet loud – both in terms of design
and volume, and especially when
you snapped it closed to hang up
on some fool.
An inspired effort to liberate the
world from the dominant glass
rectangle phone design.

April 2020 | | 85
 BIG 4K MONITORS
All the bells, whistles and pixels you could ever need
1
Winner!
1 Predator XB273K
£1,000, www.acer.com
A seriously excellent 27in IPS 4K monitor,
you get truly excellent picture quality,
with terrific colour quality, contrast and
depth. The 144Hz refresh rate means its
great for faster games too, with G-Sync
offering the best adaptive sync
technology. There’s a fine assortment of
ports – HDMI, DisplayPort and USB – to
have you covered no matter what you
want to connect to it; and offers such a
well-rounded overall experience you’ll
have zero regrets. The only downside
is the slightly underwhelming
DisplayHDR 400 HDR.
86 | | April 2020
3
2 ROG Swift PG27UQ
£1,850, www.asus.com
An incredible IPS 144Hz display, but
expensive. As well as the bright and
detailed images the 4K and HDR-
enabled 27in display shows off, it also
incorporates Nvidia G-Sync tech.
On the back it’s a bit lean, with HDMI
2.0, DisplayPort 1.4, 3.5mm audio, and
two USB 3.0 ports, but that should cover
everything. It’s also an incredibly
well-designed bit of kit, with the stand
effectively funnelling your cables, as well
as having its own LED display.
The price is very high, but if you take
the plunge it will not disappoint.
3 436M6VBPAB
£500, www.phillips.com
Appearing more like a TV than a
monitor, the 43in 4K HDR Philips
Momentum 436M6VBPAB is almost
cumbersome, but still very much worth a
look. Its size may present a challenge in
making sure it can fit on your desk
safely, but it is also weighty enough to
give no worries about its stability. It
may appeal to those who also have a
game console hooked up alongside
a PC, but its 4K and HDR qualities are
undeniable and it will be very appealing
– particularly to those who take a ‘more
is more’ approach to displays.

B
igger monitors are
becoming far more
accessible as prices are
starting to come down.
Offering picture quality that can
compete with some of the best 4K
TVs, the newest 4K monitors also
4 EL2870U
£260, www.benq.com
If you’re on the lookout for a quality way
LQWRWKHÀHOGRI.PRQLWRUVEXWKDYHQ·W
got unlimited cash to throw at it, then
the 28in BenQ EL2870U is one for you to
seriously consider. The overall picture
quality is some of the best we’ve seen on
a 60Hz TN monitor. There’s also a really
nice balance to the capabilities of the
EL2870U, which has two HDMI ports and
a DisplayPort round the back. Crispness
and detail, contrasts and tones, are
beautifully presented while it performs
well from the lushest to the darkest of
on-screen environments.
offer High Dynamic Range (HDR).
Their crisp image quality is great for
lots of PC uses, including photo and
video editing, or gaming.
Stunning picture quality comes
with a catch, however: 4K monitors
generally give you lower refresh
5 PD3200U
£600, www.benq.com
No HDR here, just a wonderfully large
32in display aimed at designers and
creatives. Its IPS panel is wonderfully
clear, and the image quality is fantastic.
Additional features include BenQ’s own
tech, such as Low Blue Light and
Flicker-free elements, which make using
the monitor at night vastly more
comfortable. And its connectivity is
good, offering two HDMI 2.0 ports, a
DisplayPort 1.2, mini DisplayPort, dual
USB 3.0 ports and a 3.5mm audio port.
The addition of an SD card slot is an
extra bonus too.
Upgrade
Big 4K monitors
rates and slower response times.
There are options out there that will
offer you the best of both worlds,
but you should expect a hefty price
tag. If you don’t mind sacrificing a
bit of performance for a pristine
display, read on.
6 Predator X27
£1,800, www.acer.com
This is a premium monitor in every sense
of the word. Avoiding any trade off
between technologies to get the best of
everything, the X27 gives you, well,
everything. The 27in monitor has a 4K
resolution and is HDR-enabled, with
G-Sync and a high refresh rate. Its IPS
panel comes with a top refresh rate of
144Hz. The rear sports two USB 3.0 ports
as well as HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4
out, and the side has another two USB
3.0 ports. Despite the very high asking
price, the X27 is a great monitor worthy
of consideration.
April 2020 | | 87
THE BEST FREE ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE
Protect your PC with the best anti-malware packages
1 Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2020
www.bitdefender,co,uk
Bidefender tends to be reliable
and accurate in its virus detecting,
boasting web filtering to block
access to malicious sites, as well as
a secure browser that keeps your
2 Norton AntiVirus Plus
www.norton.com
The newly christened product was
rolled out in April 2019 as a direct
replacement for the aging Norton
AntiVirus Basic. It really only adds
a couple of extra functions.
Norton touts plenty of tweaks,
88 | | April 2020
online banking and shopping
transactions safe. Plus, there’s a
password manager which
auto-completes credit card details
in web forms. It also scores high
options and settings for those
who require them, not to
mention features like a handy
URL blocker, which keeps you
away from malicious websites.
If that misses something, an
Winner!
for its excellent anti-phishing
You can scan your
module, which alerts you to
linked devices via malicious links in search engine
the Bitdefender results and blocks dangerous sites.
Central mobile app. That’s not all: there’s also
ransomware protection that learns
the behaviour of threats to keep
you safe. There are one or two
issues – it grabs more resources
than average, and might conflict
with some programs – but
Bitdefender Antivirus Plus is still a
likeable package which offers
excellent detection rates, great
performance, and more than
enough bonus features to justify
the price.
RATING
excellent file reputation service
heuristically recognises suspect
downloads instantly.
Norton can run
scans on demand,
And, even if malware still finds a
or schedule them way through, intelligent behaviour
for a specific time. monitoring uses its up to date
virus definitions to quarantine
threats at the first sign of trouble.
image credits: BitDefender, Norton, Webroot, ESET
So what exactly does Plus do that
Basic didn’t? There are only a
couple of things really: it adds an
extra 2GB worth of cloud backup
and a password manager. The latter
is worth having if you haven’t got
one already, though it can’t match
the power of Dashlane and other
market leaders.
RATING

3 Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus
www.webroot.com
Just about every antivirus tool
claims to be ‘lightweight’, but
Webroot SecureAnywhere
AntiVirus is really the only one to
deliver on this front. Installation
4 ESET NOD32 Antivirus
www.eset.com
ESET NOD32 Antivirus comes with
real-time malware protection,
some of the best heuristic
detection around, an anti-
takes seconds, the program files
barely use 2MB of your hard drive,
RAM footprint is tiny, and there
are no bulky signature updates
to tie up your bandwidth
ransomware layer, exploit
protection, URL filtering to block
malicious websites, and modules
to prevent attacks using scripts. A
Software Test
Best free antivirus software
Considering this, there’s no
compromise on features, which
Webroot comes
with a 70-day
makes it all the more impressive.
money-back Along with the core protection,
guarantee. there’s smart behaviour
monitoring, accurate realtime
antiphishing, a firewall and
network connection monitor,
enhanced anti-ransomware, and
other interesting bonuses.
It’s not easy to compare
Webroot’s accuracy with the
competition, as the big testing
labs rarely evaluate the company’s
products. However, when they are
reviewed, they generally score
high, and our own tests show
p
solid and reliable protection.
RATING
Device Control module limits the
Experienced users
will appreciate
risk of infection from other
ESET’s power and devices by controlling access to
configurability. USB sticks, external hard drives,
optical storage media, even
devices connecting by Bluetooth
and FireWire. It’s an unusual
addition, but could make a
difference if others are regularly
plugging devices into your PC.
Just bear in mind that ESET
NOD32 Antivirus isn’t aimed at
beginners, however, its above-
average protection does a good
job of keeping you safe, and a
lightweight design ensures the
package won’t slow you down.
RATING
April 2020 | | 89
 In the
Future PLC Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA

Editorial
Editor Ian Evenden
ian.evenden@futurenet.com
Art Editor Jamie Schildhauer NEXT ISSUE
Deputy Editor Nick Odantzis
Editor in Chief Graham Barlow
*Hɢ PʝȾɏ ʓUʝə \ʝʦ ɠ :ʖQGʝZɡ 3& ON SALE
Senior Art Editor Jo Gulliver 24 April
Contributors
Mike Bedford, Alex Cox, Cat Ellis, Christian Guyton, Lindsay Handmer, Matt Hanson,
2020
David Lumb, Carrie Marshall, Nick Peers, Mark Wyciślik-Wilson
Photography
Future Photo Studio, Thinkstock.com
All copyrights and trademarks are recognised and respected
Advertising
Media packs are available on request
Chief Revenue Officer Zack Sullivan
Commercial Sales Director Clare Dove
Head of Commercial - Technology Dave Randall
Senior Advertising Manager Sasha McGregor
Account Director Andrew Tilbury
andrew.tilbury@futurenet.com
International
Windows Help & Advice is available for licensing. Contact the
International department to discuss partnership opportunities
International Print Licensing Rachel Shaw

6(&85(
rachel.shaw@futurenet.com
Subscriptions
Email enquiries contact@myfavouritemagazines.co.uk
Order line and enquiries +44 (0)844 848 2852
Online orders & enquiries www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk
Head of subscriptions Sharon Todd
Circulation

<285 3&
Head of Newstrade Tim Mathers
Production
Head of Production Mark Constance
Production Project Manager Clare Scott
Advertising Production Manager Joanne Crosby
Digital Editions Controller Jason Hudson
Production Controller Nola Cokely
Management
Chief Content Officer Aaron Asadi
All you need to keep your pc
Vice President of Content & GEIC Bill Gannon
Head of Art & Design Rodney Dive safe from online threats
Printed by William Gibbon & Sons Ltd, 26 Planetary Road, Willenhall,
West Midlands, WV13 3XT
Distributed by Marketforce, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5HU
www.marketforce.co.uk Tel: 0203 787 9001
ISSN 2050-5906
We are committed to only using magazine paper which is derived from responsibly
managed, certified forestry and chlorine-free manufacture. The paper in this
magazine was sourced and produced from sustainable managed forests, conforming
,67+,67+(<($52)*"
to strict environmental and socioeconomic standards. The manufacturing paper mill
holds full FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification and accreditation
All contents © 2020 Future Publishing Limited or published under licence. All rights
How super-fast mobile
reserved. No part of this magazine may be used, stored, transmitted or reproduced
in any way without the prior written permission of the publisher. Future Publishing data will benefit us all
Limited (company number 2008885) is registered in England and Wales. Registered
office: Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All information contained in this
publication is for information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time
of going to press. Future cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies
in such information. You are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly

HOW TO
with regard to the price of products/services referred to in this publication. Apps
and websites mentioned in this publication are not under our control. We are
not responsible for their contents or any other changes or updates to them. This
magazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies
mentioned herein.
If you submit material to us, you warrant that you own the material and/or have the
necessary rights/permissions to supply the material and you automatically grant
Future and its licensees a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in
any/all issues and/or editions of publications, in any format published worldwide
and on associated websites, social media channels and associated products. Any
Ȼ&XVWRPLVH\RXU3&
material you submit is sent at your own risk and, although every care is taken, neither
Future nor its employees, agents, subcontractors or licensees shall be liable for loss or Ȼ&DWDORJXHDFROOHFWLRQ
damage. We assume all unsolicited material is for publication unless otherwise stated,
and reserve the right to edit, amend, adapt all submissions.
Ȼ%DFNXSZLWK)LOH+LVWRU\
Ȼ0DNHDSULYDWHRQOLQHGLDU
&RQWHQWVVXEMHFWWRFKDQJH

Future plc is a public

company quoted on the
Chief executive Zillah Byng-Thorne
Non-executive chairman Richard Huntingford
Catch up with us on…
London Stock Exchange !ǝǣƺǔˡȇƏȇƬǣƏǼȒǔˡƬƺȸ Penny Ladkin-Brand
(symbol: FUTR)
www.futureplc.com Tel +44 (0)1225 442 244

A member of the Audit

www.facebook.com/windowsmag www.twitter.com/windowsmag
Bureau of Circulations

www.windowsmag.co.uk
90 | | April 2020
 ON SALE NOW!

Available at WHSmith, myfavouritemagazines.co.uk

or simply search for ‘T3’ in your device’s App Store

SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND SAVE!

www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/t3subs